This was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives. They had been your classic high school sweethearts, dating from junior high school all the way up to senior high. They went on to attend the same college, with him studying law and her, business management. They agreed that they would get married three years after graduating and in their final year, they started planning for their wedding.
The date was Saturday, the 1st of July 2023. The time was 06:00. Breaking News! Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, CNN, BBC … the news was headlining on every platform. It read like something out of a sci-fi movie:
UFO CONFIRMED. EXPECTED TO ENTER EARTH’S ATMOSPHERE WITHIN THE NEXT TWO HOURS.
World leaders had known about the object months before, as their satellites had detected its presence. However, in typical political wrangling fashion, they were all playing the blame game. The Chinese blamed the Americans, the Americans blamed the North Koreans, the Indians blamed the Pakistanis and so on; each country believing that they were under a military attack of some sort. However, after numerous discussions, it was agreed that the object did not in fact belong to any one country.
Steve stared at the screen in disbelief.
“Is this for real?“ he said to Toby, his best friend and soon to be best man.
“I really doubt this could be a hoax. If it is, it’s definitely the mother of all hoaxes,“ Toby replied with a stunned expression.
Steve’s cell phone buzzed. It was Martha.
“Hi babe,“ Steve said in a dejected voice.
“Hey,” Martha’s voice sounded as distant as the UFO.
“Toby and I are on our way, we’ll be there in fifteen minutes,“ were the only words Steve could think of to say.
Leaving the other groomsmen fast asleep at the motel they had been occupying for the past week, the two men jumped into Toby’s BMW convertible and sped off to Martha and her bridesmaids. There was total commotion in the streets, but Toby drove like a speed demon and a drive that would normally take twenty minutes took him just ten.
The car screeched to a halt outside Martha’s two-bedroom flat and Steve jumped out while the car was still running. Martha stood in the doorway, still dressed in her gown with tears streaming down her face.
Although it felt like years had passed since that fateful day, it was a mere two short weeks ago. The aliens had indeed landed, confirming the predictions of the various global space agencies. They turned out to be nothing like the way they had always been depicted in Hollywood movies. They were just like humans – the only difference being that they were almost a thousand times more intelligent. The crafts that they arrived in were so advanced that not one of the human so-called geniuses could even begin to understand their machinations.
Their leader announced that they were taking over Planet Earth and that the human race had no choice but to accept this. Failure to do so would result in the death of every single living person.
“Our mission here is not hostile,” he announced on all the worldwide news agencies, “but we are here to stay. A million of us have arrived and therefore a million of you will return to our planet. Our space crafts have been programmed and there will be no reason for any of my people to accompany those leaving Earth. On arrival on our planet, you will be met by my Second in Command who will guide you in your new lives. As our planet has the same climate as yours, your people are sure to adapt very easily.”
Steve and Martha were at Steve’s parents’ house when they heard the announcement. The selection process. developed by the aliens, was scheduled to begin the next day, the 16th of July. Notice of who had been selected would be communicated via text message. The whole process was set to take one day and travel would commence within the next two weeks.
The next day, Steve was at home when his phone bleeped. He received the following text:
YOU HAVE BEEN SELECTED TO TRAVEL TO PLANET TREA. THERE WILL BE NO NEED TO PACK ANY BELONGINGS AS EVERYTHING WILL BE PROVIDED TO YOU ON YOUR ARRIVAL. SAFE JOURNEY. DATE OF DEPARTURE: 31 JULY 2023.
Steve read the text again, wide-eyed with shock. He decided he could not bear to tell Martha the bad news and avoided seeing or speaking to her for the next few weeks. It was the day before he was due to leave the planet for good before he could muster up the courage to tell her the inevitable.
He was shaking when he called her. But Martha did not answer the phone. He drove to her flat, but she was nowhere to be seen. Steve returned home with a heavy heart, resigned to the fact he would never ever see her again.
The space craft was due to take off at 8am the following morning. At 7am, having endured a sleepless night, Steve heard the alien troopers arriving to escort him to the space craft. There were thousands of people entering the craft in single file.
“Take your seats and enjoy your trip!“ the troopers shouted in unison as the doors closed behind them. At 8am sharp, the space craft blasted off. At that exact moment, Steve’s phone rang. It was Martha. He frantically tried to answer, but it was too late.
The line had already gone dead.
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