Earth
Mr. Thomas Smith
“Thomas, you need to see this!” my wife shouted as she ran into the living room and turned on the TV to Channel 7 News. I could see a countdown in the bottom corner tick down to 1 before switching from the current station to a government broadcast. “Breaking News” filled the screen before fading away to reveal General Morris.
General Arthur Morris was a tall man with a muscular build despite him nearing his sixties. He had black hair with gray streaks in it along with a few wrinkles marring his face. He had a serious expression, which looked natural instead of just what he assumed for this broadcast. He stared into the camera with an intensity that was unnerving. It felt like he was staring straight at me.
“Attention all Americans!” he announced with a deep and threatening voice. “Ever since the Fall of the Soviet Union, we thought we were on top of the world. Nothing could destroy our freedoms and our hopes. We knew we were in decline as other powers grew, but all talk of doom and gloom was more fearmongering than anything truly threatening. However, it appears that a far more serious threat has infiltrated us.
“This morning, we received an anonymous tip that Senators Moore and Gonzales were bought out by aliens. We would’ve disregarded this if it wasn’t for the fact that the two Senators openly hated each other and were never on the same page. So we were going to launch a light probe when we found the evidence we needed.” He looked to the side of the screen and shouted, “Bring in the alien!” Heavy thumping could be heard from the other side.
The cameras moved to show a massive alien creature. It stood at ten feet tall and was covered in something that looked like a mix between scales and skin. It had a furious gaze as it looked at the general with apparent hatred. My wife and I were filled with fear as we stared at the extraterrestrial creature. To know that we weren’t alone could’ve gone better. The general walked onto the screen and pointed at the alien. “This is what we found,” he announced before facing the camera.
“When we attempted to get ahold of the anonymous caller, they shocked us by calling us first. We told them what we found, only for them to tell us that they knew what the species was called. Apparently, they are called the Qarri, pronounced like Car-E. The anonymous signal explained that they were from the same species, but that they had a falling out with their empire. According to our source, the empire attempted to infiltrate all our institutions to turn us into a slave planet.
“I know most of you are horrified by what you saw and heard. Some of you may even believe this program to be an elaborate hoax. What you saw is real. And the reason I’m speaking with you instead of the president is because he was also compromised along with the vice president, Speaker of the House, and the Senate Pro Tempe. Until the Secretary of State returns from his meeting with the prime minister of Japan, the United States of America is placed under martial law.
“I encourage all citizens to remain vigilant. The enemy is out there, corrupting society as we know it! But rest assured, civilian rule will soon be restored once the Qarri are dealt with! Farewell America, and let’s hope that we can survive this threat.” The broadcast ended, leaving us in silence.
“Did the general just coup the government?” Madilyn asked as she looked at me with shocked eyes. I was just as shocked, but I did a good job of hiding it.
I looked down and replied, “I don’t know. It’s ridiculous to think that aliens were infiltrating the government, but I can’t deny what I saw. It could just be a man in an animatronic suit, but the fact that the Men in Black attempted to scare us from investigating Quentin’s disappearance further makes me believe. Except for the fact that the Men in Black and the Military seem to be working against each other.”
“Unless the Men in Black aren’t actually government official and instead were aliens pretending to be them,” Madilyn suggested, which made me pause. It was very possible that the organization that doesn’t officially exist really doesn’t exist, or at least not under the US government.
Stolen story; please report.
I pondered it for a while before nodding. “I think you’re onto something. The aliens could’ve seen our conspiracy culture and knew that the Men in Black were a common conspiracy theory so disguising as one could confuse even normal people.” A sense of regret filled me as I stood up and slammed my fist into the wall. “Dammit! I should’ve continued investigating despite their warnings! I’m a horrible father!”
“Thomas Jeffrey Smith, stop acting like a child!” my wife shouted as she placed her hand on my shoulder. “If you continued investigating, they would’ve killed you. We don’t know if Quentin’s alive, but I don’t need your name added to the list.”
“Schrodinger’s Quentin. Both alive and dead at the same time until we find out,” I said to no one in particular as I pondered the question philosophically. “Except for the fact that it’s nonsense! There’s the possibility that he’s alive and the one that he’s dead, and only one of them is correct. Let’s hope that it’s the former and he’ll be back to us!”
A knock at the door interrupted my pondering. I mentally debated whether to answer it, but it was time that I did.
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Cassandra Vaught Campbell
“Mr. and Mrs. Campbell, we found some information on the case involving your daughter,” the military officer at the door said as he looked at me and my husband.
“Go on, I want to know what happened before I die,” my husband said as he looked at the officer. He was in pain, and I knew it. Ever since the diagnosis, I’ve noticed that his health started deteriorating rapidly. And in retrospect, I recognized that it started before he got diagnosed as well. He could barely stand, needing a cane that he struggled to steady. He got jaundice and had pain in his stomach and back. It was clear to me that he was dying. He needed some support for the last year of his life.
The officer pulled out a paper and said, “Your daughter, Scarlett Rose Campbell, was abducted by the Qarri fourteen years ago. Soldiers discovered this when they raided a nearby compound this morning.”
“Was she there? Do you know what happened to her? Is she dead?” I asked in rapid succession since I wanted to give Samuel all the answers he wanted.
The officer shook his head. “From the reports we got, she was experimented on before being sent far away from Earth. It doesn’t say what the experiments were about, but it’s clear that whatever happened, there is a close to zero chance that she’ll ever come home. I’m sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Campbell, but Scarlett is as good as dead.”
Samuel faltered as he heard the news. I quickly caught him and allowed him to lean on me. Despite being taller, the cancer destroyed his weight, making him creepily light. He looked at me and said, “Thank you, my love. I’m used to catching you rather than the other way around.”
“I know,” I said to him before looking at the officer. “We’ll start planning on holding a funeral for her. Since there’s no body, we have all the time we need to gather everyone close to her. Perhaps we can even invite the Smiths to attend. They never met our daughter, but they lost their son in a similar way.”
“Yes, honey. It’ll give me an opportunity to speak with them before I die,” Samuel said as he looked away. I knew that his suffering was far more than physical. I felt the same pain. But to him, the matter was deathly serious. While I agreed to take control of the business should he die, he seemed concerned that his line would die. He felt that even though it didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things, he still wanted the Campbell family to continue.
The officer looked away and said, “As I said before, I’m sorry we have no more information on your daughter. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to tell someone’s family that their son was murdered by the Qarri who framed the man’s brother.” I froze in shock as the officer walked back to his jeep and drove off.
It made me realize that for as sad as we were, there were those who suffered more. Our daughter could still be alive. But it was that undetermined fate that made it all the more nerve wracking. For all we knew, she could’ve been a slave somewhere in the galaxy. How did reality become this way? If only she had a mundane fate, it would’ve been easier to accept.
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Thomas Jeffrey Smith
“Unfortunately, since the Qarri didn’t kidnap your son, we have no idea what happened to him. All we knew is that he was abducted and the Qarri tried to cover it up since it threatened to expose them,” the military officer told us as we looked at him.
“I was right. He was abducted by aliens,” I said to myself. It didn’t make me any happier. He was still gone, and his fate was unknown. If he’d just disappeared on Earth, there would at least be something I could predict. Extraterrestrials, on the other hand, were inherently unpredictable. Perhaps because they weren’t human.
I walked back to the couch and slumped on it. It didn’t matter to me that the government was taken over by the military. Without my son, what reason was there to be happy? I needed some time to think things over. If only everyone could leave me alone.