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Short Stories Science Fiction The Visitors
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The Visitors |
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| Written by Prithwish | |
| Monday, 24 March 2008 | |
| Last Updated ( Tuesday, 25 March 2008 ) |
PREFACE : This story was written for the Fifth edition of the ITC Classmate Young Authors Contest, 2007-2008. This story was selected in the Top 16 stories in the National(Final) Level of the contest, all 16 scheduled to be published in an anthology.
It is about a man - who finds his beliefs, his faith, his very existence - questioned, challenged, shaken to the core. And all this is because of an extraterrestrial encounter ..... or is it.. an encounter - with truth?
Just a reminder - some things in this story may not be entirely factually correct...just assume it is...for the sake of enjoying the story.
One more thing - one of the images is not displayed in storiesville.com.......you really need to see it for proper understanding - you can see it at :- http://img367.imageshack.us/img367/4826/un2titledqk1.jpg
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THE VISITORS
17th July,2007 - 11:37 A.M. - United States Interim Military Court - Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
"What are you so afraid of Mr. Anderson? What are you so afraid of? That the lie you and your kind have been propagating all these years - the lies meant to ensue fear and distrust among the citizens of the world - that lie will finally be exposed? That you will be incarcerated as a psychopath, a pathological killer, a freak, a shlockmeister out for some quick buck, media glitz?" - The incriminating party's - that is, the US Government's - lawyer snarled in my face. I could answer,but chose not to. It would only endanger humanity.....and them as well....and besides,what would have been gained from blurting out the truth? The truth that the US Government has known for decades - yet choosing not to make the people privy to that information. The truth - that has claimed the lives of so many before me - my friends,family,people that I've been personally close to. The truth that I've been in pursuit of - for more years than I care to remember. I've lived with a fragile faith built on the ether of vaguement from an experience that I can neither probe nor explain. When I was twelve, my sister was taken from us, taken from our home by a force - which I came to believe was...extraterrestrial. This belief sustained me in my quest for extraterrestrial intelligence, fuelling a quest for truths that were as elusive as the memory itself. To believe as passionately as I did, was not without sacrifice. But I've always accepted the risks....to my career,reputation,relationships......to life itself. What happened to me on the night of July fifteenth, has justified every belief. If I should be sentenced to death by this jury now...if I die....it would be with the certainty that my faith had been righteous. And if, through death, greater mysteries are revealed will already have learned the answer to the question that has driven me here......that there IS intelligent life in the universe other than out own, that they are here among us....and that they have always been involved in humanity's well being and it's progress, and will continue to be. My only regret will be that,although having known the truth which I seeked so ardently, I have failed to ultimately deliver it to the masses,as my wish had been.
15th July,2007 - 11:33 P.M. - Paige Family Lawn - New Coventry,Oklahoma
"NO! WAIT! " - I screamed into the blinding light - "STOP! DON'T GO! WAIT!" - screaming was all I could do as the blinding white light dulled out to a blue haze,as the colossal structure slowly ascended,and finally disappeared into the star spectrum- leaving in it's wake a point source of light,brighter and larger than any other in the night sky. A deathly silence followed, as I stood transfixed,gazing into the night sky. Three dead men lay at my feet,their mouths agape in horror,confsion,and hatred - as I had shot them dead. They were what remained of a US Blue Beret strike team - I didn't feel any remorse for my murders. They had killed the entire Paige family. Had tried to kill me,tried to erase any and all proof of "their" existence, and arrival. Tried to erase perhaps the ultimate voice of reason for humanity - and how ironic - that voice was not even from this planet....would they ever return? To a place where emotions,love,compassion,kindness - is eschewed in favor of greed,jealousy,hatred,vengeance? Would they remember me - a man who went against the odds to protect them?
15th July,2007 - 9:45 A.M. - Paige Family Porch - New Coventry,Oklahoma
"Hey John! JOHN! Lookie what I made!" nine year old Jamie Paige ran up to me with his sister,as I stepped out of my car - having returned to town just then,my luggage still in the trunk. I had decided to stop by the Paige's on my way home. I smiled and waved back at them,amused to see them wearing crude handmade hats out of aluminium foil. "Hey Jamie,Dana! What's with the weird hats?" "It's for the spacemen - with us wearing these aluminium foil hats - they can't do their telepatho-or-whatever thingy,and read our minds!" "Cool,huh! We're really smart,aren't we?" Dana Paige,his seven year old sister chirped in. I had to smile - these kids were always dreaming up something or the other,and my interest in extraterrestrial life had been transmitted to them as well.."Really? Spacemen - you say? Aliens? " I joked,laughing. "Uh-huh! Really! They came, John! We all saw lights in the sky last night, and they left weird shapes and all in the fields! " I had to halt there. But I was still smiling. "Weird shapes,huh?" "Yeah! Just like those pictures we saw in your space-book that day...you call them what - ‘crop-circles' or something? They're here,john! Those circles in the cornfields this morning! It must've been the spacemen,john! Their ship must've landed here last night! A "yoo-eff-oh" or whatever you call it!" My heart skipped a beat when I heard the words. They must be joking.Surely.pulling my leg. Yes - yes...that's it...crop circles and UFO-s in New Coventry,Oklahoma? Impossible. Although Oklahoma was almost a front for UFO activites,New Coventry was an urban area with very little farmland,and was far away from Nebraska, and....and...thousands of such contradicting thoughts ran through my brain in that instant. Then I saw mr.peter paige,their father,running across the lawn towards me. Looking disheveled,his glasses askew,his face ashen. "john! John! You've got to see this! Come with me!"and then his white knuckles clasped round my wrist - began leading me to the paige's barn,the cornfields." Pete...i...I don't understand. Jamie and dana said...." "it's there! It's all there! We all saw it! Alice is inside,packing.We're leaving,john!" "what..?" "we're LEAVING! First those lights for the last two nights,and this today. You know I'm a skeptic in these things,john. But tell me. What does a skeptic say after seeing THIS? " He let go of my hand. We had reached the cornfields. I walked inside the wall of corns - and immediately noticed - something was very,very wrong here.
I was standing in a clearing. Like an immense circle - almost fifty feet in radius. The corn in this clearing,had been pressed down - flat on the ground,by what seemed like a steamroller. Only that these circles and the shapes carved out within these circles were far too perfect for any device on earth to make,and also that the paiges had no steamroller or anything like that. And it isn't something that could just be done by a person or group stealthily overnight,without anyone hearing or seeing anything suspicious. I bent down,to check the flattened strands of corn,and immediately drew my hand back. They were saturated with static electricity - and crackled to life immediately upon contact with my hand - stinging them. To my amazement,I noticed my watch had stopped. This event,although seeming irrelevant, was very much relevant regarding present circumstances. I realized that. "pete...what...what's the time by your watch?" I asked in a hoarse voice. He hadn't entered the cornfield with me and was standing near the edge. "It's 9:50!" he called back "okay...thanks" I croaked out. Five minutes. It had been exactly five minutes since I entered the fields. Sure enough, my watch was stopped,at exactly 9:45. I gulped,and had to stop myself from shaking,physically. All symptoms matching...upto now...circles - perfect circles with intricate and perfect geometrical patterns circumscribed inside them. With no apparent cause of origin - appearing overnight - infused with static electricity - the magnetic field even stalling watches. "I need to go up to the barn roof - get a better view" pete's grim face told me the story. "the ladder's already there. We've already had a view" I didn't wait for another word out of him. I set straight for the barn. This was getting worse by the second.
[insert image here :- http://img367.imageshack.us/img367/4826/un2titledqk1.jpg]
Three perfect,geometrical circles,each about fifty feet in diameter,and each circle about twenty feet apart - joined by three straight lines,almost like a narrow path connecting each circle. Inside each circle the already flattened strands of corn had been pressed about three inches into the ground, thus carving out geometrical figures within each circle,these too,were perfect. Something like this :-
I climbed back down. "What about those lights you guys were talking about? "
15th July,2007 - 10:24 A.M. - Paige Residence Kitchen - New Coventry,Oklahoma
We were at the table,and Alice Paige was speaking. "It was the night before last. The kids were playing in the lawn after dinner, Peter and I were watching a movie in the living room. We were very much into it - when the signal went out. Pete then went out,onto the roof,to fix the antennae,and that's when he saw them. " peter continued now : "three red lights,in a somewhat triangular alignment,moving across the sky haphazardly. Believe me - no plane or anything else on earth could move the way it did. I called out to alice,and she saw them too. The kids,then. We were all really miffed by it,when the lights just seemed to get bigger,seemingly coming closer and closer. We were really scared witless,and came down. But they were gone. Just like that. Vanished. No trace of it anywhere. No sound at all.
Anyway,we decided to shrug it off. But there they were again last night. This time the kids saw it first." "so today,when we saw the circles - that was the breaking point. We are really freaked out now. Gonna go to allison's place. That guy sure could use some company!" he tried to lighten the atmosphere,but it helps neither the comedian nor the audience if both parties are scared witless,their beliefs shaken to the core. "so, do you guys have any objection,if I stay the night? " I had made up my mind. These experiences were too difficult to just let pass by. They just looked at each other. "No John...of course we don't. You're just like one of the family. But...come on, man...I don't like whats happening. I got a bad feeling bout this..." "Believe me - "I replied - "I've waited all my life for something like this. I want to see it. All of it." They were concerned for me- no doubt - but this time - I couldn't let them stop me.
Suddenly - a kind of shockwave went through us - and we jerked involuntarily. They had felt it, just as me. Glasses on the table had shattered into a million pieces - the bulb had blown out, and was now smoking. I don't exactly know why, but I immediately said "check the car. Now!" "What?" "Just do it!" I jumped out of my seat and ran outside. I started for my car, but I didn't even have to start the engine to know that it was fried. The copious amounts of smoke and occasional wisps of flame from the engine did more than convince me. I looked around for peter. His car wasn't flaming - but his expression as he tried the engine,was enough for me.
Sure enough,neither me nor the Paiges were getting off this place tonight. Someone didn't want us to.
15th July,2007- 10:39 P.M. - Paige Residence Living Room - New Coventry, Oklahoma
"You just take it like so, shift the handle here up and down quick, like this - then point and shoot.Easy. Got it?" - Pete said, handing me his spare shotgun.
"Er...look here,Pete....do we really need the guns? I mean...I mean we don't even know whether they're hostile-"
"Anything that screws with our only means of escape from them - whoever they are - qualifies ‘em as ‘hostile' - I think!"
I wasn't about to argue with a man with a gun.
"So...they appear every night at 11 p.m. right?"
"Right. But they're cutting their schedule short or something I guess, ‘cuz they showed up at 10:50 yester night. That's a cut-off of 10 minutes."
I was speechless. All evidence pointed towards their extraterrestrial nature. Mathematical patterns. Crop circles with inlay circles of diameter of exactly 10 feet. And here too....they were reducing their arrival time by 10 minutes each night. That meant it was time. I looked at my watch. Yes, it was now. 10:40 p.m.
"But what if-" - Alice's statement was cut short - the electricity had gone out again.
"To the basement with the kids. Go. Now." - Peter managed to sputter out.
But there was no time.
The outside was illuminated by a blinding white light - almost opaque - it was intense, but somehow cool...gentle. The room was now bathed with an unearthly glow.
"Go! NOW!" Peter screamed again.
Nobody Moved.
Not because we didn't want to - but because we couldn't. Physically. An invisible force seemed to be binding us. "NO!" Screamed Peter. "Relax!" I screamed back at him.
"Mommy...I'm scared..."
"Don't worry honey...it's gonna be okay...it's gonna be-"
Alice was cut off for the second time now, this time by a booming voice - one with an otherworldly gravity and force.
"Do not fear us, humans. We come in peace".
"WHAT the hell do you want from us?!" - screamed Peter.
"We only wish to make contact. We have been visiting your planet for centuries. We have been helping your kind attain a higher plane - helping you,guiding you - in most of your agricultural, economic, scientific endeavors and accomplishments. Leading you down the correct path when you have deviated from it ....though we will not say that we have been entirely successful,always."
We knew not what to think. All our beliefs were being strongly questioned.....but there was still some room for doubt.
"Who are you? How do we know you are what you claim to be?" I asked. My voice surprisingly not faltering.
I was answered immediately. My question was followed by a fleeting sense of nausea - we found ourselves being levitated - by some force. After a blinding flash of light we found ourselves standing in the lawn ; but we had little time or chance to ponder what had just happened. Our senses were arrested by a colossal monument a few yards in front of us - that seemed to have just apparated in the cornfields overnight. It was a massive triangular craft of some sort - intricate designs and engravings on it's surface. It was hovering a bit above the ground, and yet not even a faint buzz could be heard. Just the rustling wind.
A deathly silence prevailed,until that light came again. That blinding,white light - and it came from within the ship. A doorway seemed to open up,and the flood of bluish white light faltered, as figures emerged from within.
My whole life could be fit in comfortably - in the space of that second - it seemed ....as I saw them.
"Them" - their existence only rumored, speculated of, hinted at, but never proved beyond the shadow of a doubt.
And now,here they were.....and I,for one, was having no doubt of their existence.
They were grey. Grey and short,little. It sounds like clichéd nonsense - but that's how it was. Almost up to our waists. They had large,completely black eyes - no iris or eyelids - just large, slightly protruding eyes - somehow both innocent as well as venomous. Their limbs were thin,frail - largely disproportionate to the size of their head and their torso.
They walked up to us - and shook our hands in greeting.
"We have been in contact with your government for decades. Secretly sharing your technology and sciences with your kind....but we shall admit - our visits were somewhat tainted with the motive of self-benefit.."
"Why? What do you need from us? What could we possibly give you?"
"A cure. A cure for a plague that is rapidly depopulating our planet."
"Well.....what kind?"
"We have no records of it in our medical database. The victim becomes weak - his body temperature increases beyond normal - and this is accompanied by occasional production and discharge of mucous from the nasal cavities-"
"What? What did you say?! You describe the common viral fever!" - I blurted out,interrupting him...or it...whatever.
"What? You say you are aware of this disease?" - For the first time tonight, emotion registered in it's voice. One of disbelief, fear, as well as hope, relief.
"Of course! It's quite common in our planet - and easily cured via antivirals!"
"Impossible. Your best scientists could not fathom it. They have been in search of a cure....ever since we've requested them to! That dates back to our original visit!"- the voice faltered now.
"I can't believe it....they've apparently been lying to you! Almost every household has the medicine for it today!"
"It....It cannot be..." - the voice now clearly showed cracks of emotion.
"Even we have it! Should I go get it?" - Alice spoke for the first time since their arrival.
"Please....please..." - said the visitor - and the group started a discussion amongst themselves in their alien dialect. Alice rushed inside.
"Here it is!" She came back,thrusting out the bottle to them - and the visitor took it in his frail,bony hands.
"Thank you. We can bio-engineer all medicines to have instantaneous effect on us. We shall now see if it works. Please - come with us." There was a distinct sense of urgency in it's voice. They took hold of each of our hands, and in a blinding flash of light, we found ourselves in a purely white room.
A completely white and featureless room - Illuminated by light all around. In the middle lay a bed - another one of the visitors lay in it. Looking sickly - it's grey tone almost white, and wrinkled. Others of their kind were standing around, we looked on,as they registered the medicine to the sick being upon the table. We couldn't get exactly what happened - but they monitored some details on a screen, and seemed jubilant, and in another flash of light, we found ourselves back on the lawn again.
"Thank you! Thank you!" They chirped in harmony - in a joyous mood.
"We could not pssible repay you for what you have done. You have saved our race from certain extinction! We obviously can no longer trust your government - who have been exploiting us for decades....but rest assured - our belief in humanity is sustained - thanks to you!".
"We wish to thank you for your help - with a small token of our apprecia-" It was interrupted by a piercing light - not the gentle one from the visitors' ship.
An armored SUV crashed in from the street and into
the lawn, interrupting us.
"There they are! FREEZE! US Blue Beret!" - they screamed - three men with
automatic rifles - as they rushed towards us.
"NO! We must leave!" the visitor screamed as they rushed to their ship.
"ROT IN HELL!" one of the soldiers snarled - as he fired round after round of ammunition at the visitors, but none hit them - the bullets just seemed to strike a invisible barrier and deflected away - from the visitors.
"NO! STOP!" Peter screamed as he tried to wrestle away the gun from his hand.
He was immediately cut down by gunfire.
The rest of it was a blur - all I remember were the rest of the Paiges mowed down in front of my eyes by gunfire - my eyes locking with little Dana's - her bloodshot eyes, wide with horror and surprise as she fell - me lifting up the weapon in my hand,the one I had all but forgotten about - and in a grip of blinding rage - pumping cold hard lead into those murderer's bodies - and finally....me - standing there, looking dazedly into the sky - at the disappearing light - as more SUV's piled up, more of the Blue Berets cuffing me and carrying me off.....
17th July 2007 - 11:39 A.M. - United States Interim Military Court - Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
And now here I was, being charge with the murder of three military personnel, as well as those of the entire Paige family. I could do nothing to prove my innocence - they had constructed an entirely believable lie - about me stealing classified military documents,and murdering the entire Paige family and the three members of the US Blue Beret team,when confronted by them. They had overwhelming evidence against me - even testimonies by "eyewitnesses"....There was simply no hope for me. I had put up a defence at first - bringing up the ‘visitors' factor - but I'd decided against it later on. It would only have endangered ‘their' existence.
I was going to be sentenced to death. And now they were waiting for the jury to announce their decision. The jury - four elderly men with expressionless, blank faces.
"Have the jury reached a verdict?" - the Judge's booming voice rang out in the courtroom.
"Yes, your honor, we have." - One of the men stood up and said.
"Then please announce it for the benefit of this court."
"The jury finds the accused, Mr. John Anderson - NOT GUILTY".
I had surely heard wrong. Obviously that was the same feelings running through the minds of the other people in the court.
"Would the jury repeat the statement?"
"The jury finds the accused, Mr. John Anderson - not guilty on all charges - on account of lack of sufficient incriminating evidence."
Impossible. Impossible. Surely impossible. This could not be....All eyes were on me. My eyes were on the the four men comprising the jury. As my eyes locked with theirs, one of them permitted himself a miniscule, smug smile.
20th July,2007 - 9:36 A.M. - Paige Family Lawn - New Coventry,Oklahoma
So here I was now, back to that fateful place - where it had all started. I felt I needed to be here. Almost as if some force was guiding me.
The lawn was spotless and clean. They had covered their crimes quite well.
I stood at the edge of the cornfields, and felt their presence.
"Why did you do it?" I said out loud, to no one in particular.
But they were there, and had heard me.
"We knew you would return" - A voice came from behind me.
"How did it happen? Why? " - I demanded.
"We are adept at taking various forms. Impersonating the jury to prevent your incarceration was the least we could do for you."
I didn't know what to say.
"We said we had a parting gift for you. We were interrupted then, but here it is now." - he said, handing me a gem - about the size of a bead of pearl - a shining, glowing gem - a strange,eerie bluish glow.
"What's this?"
"It's the answer to everything. The secret of the universe. Everything man has yet to know, and all that man will probably never know."
"What.....what could I possible do with this? How could I possibly extract that information?"
"The information has been miniaturized - it's in written form,it will appear to
you to be in English, along with mathematical parameters.......we hope for you to
decipher it in time...You and your kind deserve it, despite some of your people..."
And then they left.
I still have not been able to decipher to information they claim is contained inside this gem - the answer to everything.
It is most likely that our science is not advanced enough yet - to decipher it.
But as I lay at night - sleep rarely coming - I see that eerie blue glow of the gem that sits by my bedside - and....
.......I feel strengthened.
......I feel rejuvenated.
....It gives me the faith, the strength, the inspiration - to carry on.........
.........in the quest of truth....
.....in the path of righteousness.
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Comments (6) |
 03-24-2008 18:31, I have to say thank you for sending me a message notifying me of this story. I enjoyed this very much. Right off the bat i was expecting a tedious evil sophisticated alien race attacking earth but you surprised me with a peaceful alien race and a corrupt government that shoots innocent people. I also enjoyed the ending i was hoping he would get not guilty. But anyways i really did like this definitely the best alien story i have ever read. » Reply to this comment...  03-25-2008 00:31, that was a refreshingly different extraterrestrial tale. » Reply to this comment...  03-25-2008 08:10, This was really a good story, congratulations :) Did it take you long to write? The style seems so polished... » Reply to this comment... » See all 1 replie(s)  03-26-2008 17:37, Sorry about not reading it sooner. I saw your message, and went straight to this. Now let's see, I'll be honest and say I actually never really liked stories about aliens, but this one was incredible. I really enjoyed it, from the different behavior they portrayed. Your dialogue seems quite realistic, as well as your imagery is pretty detailed. Everything in between is extraordinary as well, I mean this was an excellent story. For some reason I found a lot of anxiety in the story, not sure why, but it was especially at the end with the gem. He seemed anxious to know. Well, I'll say it again, this was very well written and really enjoyable. » Reply to this comment...  03-29-2008 13:02, and enjoyable! :) » Reply to this comment...  03-30-2008 15:28, All around great creativity in your writing. And writing well done from charaterization to plot building. » Reply to this comment... |
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