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INVASION: A SCIENCE FICTION SHORT STORY

March 30, 2024 at 12:40 pm Leave a comment

 This story has not been published. It was written in 2006. That was when NASA was launching probes to Mars. When to vehicle reached the planet balloon-like appendages were deployed, and upon reaching the surface, the vehicle would bounce until coming to rest.

                                                                                                                                                              INVASION

I am the protector of the ‘king and living god of Zyron’ and I have just witnessed the unspeakable.

We inhabitants of Zyron are a peaceful lot, enjoying our quiet lives in the planet’s interior.  Fierce conditions make the surface uninhabitable for more than a short period of time.  Violent storms engulf the planet, blowing clouds of red dust into the arid air, making a stroll on the surface most uncomfortable.  We Zyrons enjoy the warm moist interior of the planet formed many millions of years ago when violent earthquakes opened the ocean floor draining the surface dry.  Then, another few million years passed, and our surface atmosphere changed to what we have now, conditions that will not support life for an extended period of time.

On the neighboring planet, Gothor, life is less peaceful than ours.  In our language, Gothor translates to blue sphere, a tranquil looking place but tranquil it is not.  We have witnessed their many wars and constant conflicts.  They foolishly broadcast their audio and video signals into the atmosphere giving information of their civilization to less friendly inhabitants of other planets.  Gothorians know nothing of our civilization on their neighboring planet.  The existence of the Zyonions is kept secret, our communications, shielded by the surface of our planet, cannot be intercepted by prying civilizations.  A recent development on Gothor had given us even more information of the planet.  They have developed a network that connects their computers, and with the increased knowledge we have gleaned for this network, we marvel at how much they achieve while so many of their number lack a sense of purpose, a need to contribute to their civilization.

Professions that do not, in some way, serve the good of society are shown little respect on Zyron.  That is why the Zyronians find some of what they learn of the Gothians to be comical.  So many of their society do nothing but serve themselves.  They also require something they call self-help books to further their decline into shallowness.

When Zyronians greet one another we give our name and value to society.  I would say, “I am Gorn, protector of the king.  Others would give their name and say that they were the cleaners or the scientists or the meat keepers.  When we Zyrons meet, we bow to one another, and the depth of the bow depends on the value one lends to society.  If I were to say, “I am Gorn the poet,” the bow I would receive would be deep indeed.  And if I were Gorn the teacher, the bow offered must be so deep that the small horns on our heads must touch the surface on which we stand.

We know a great deal about the lives of the Gothorians and some of the ways they spend their lives.  If a Gothor revealed some of the professions that exist there to a Zyonian, the back of the Zyronian would remain ridged.  If I were to introduce myself on Zyron as Gorn the telemarketer or Gorn the E Bay zapper, no bow would be given.  Our cultures even have different perceptions of the same profession.  On Zyron, if I am Gorn the athlete, I receive a customary bow, but the athletes from Gothor may merit a slight bend of the back, for on Gothor in many cases, the game is secondary to financial rewards. 

We Zyronians know the inhabitants of Gothor are giant creatures and are yet dwarfed by less intelligent creatures that inhabit other worlds.  Our king stands no more than six of Gothor inches, and his line is the tallest on Zyron.  Our king and his subjects closely resemble animals known as lizards living on Gothor, but their lizards are dumb beings where we have the advanced intelligence responsible for the culture that thrives on Zyron.  Unlike the lizards on Gothor, we on Zyron walk upright, and possess appendages referred to as hands, similar to those of the Gothorians.

We view the Gothorians as having a hostile purpose towards our planet.  Many times they have sent missions to our planet, devices that orbit our planet seeking information.  We had developed a ray that disabled many of their machines, but we could not doom them all.  One day a machine landed on the surface of Zyron, bouncing uncontrollably until it came to a halt.  The device opened, revealing another machine that set forth on the surface of our planet.  This was a true invasion, our planet violated.  We Zyrons observed the machine until we detected no further transmissions to Gothor, we then retrieved it for examination.

Since the first bouncing machine landed there have been other probes sent from Gothor to orbit our planet with instruments, taking photographs and other measurements of our surface, trying to detect our presence but the Gothorians will never discover us and will probably succumb to some other civilization of some planet waiting to use the vast resources contained on their blue sphere.

Then one day it was decided that we would attack Gothor, and I was a witness to the catastrophe that precipitated this decision.

Our beloved king, on occasion, would roam the surface of our planet and gaze at the stars and wonder of the world his ancestors inhabited so many million years ago.  It was on one of the ventures to the surface that the most horrible fate beset our king.

I, along with two other guards, accompanied the king on his journey to Zyron’s surface.  We walked a short distance when the king halted and gazed at the stars in the cold Zyronian night sky.  We guards followed the king’s example when we all detected a strange movement in the blackness.  A speeding light approached, it flamed, and then the flames extinguished but still the light approached.  It grew in size until the realization of another invasion from Gothor became apparent.  It was another bouncing machine.  It landed a great distance away, then began its haphazard bouncing along our planet’s surface.  The king and we guards ran, scattering.  Once the device came to a halt we reformed but could not find the king.  We separated, searching for our ruler.  I will never forget the wail of the guard who discovered our poor monarch.  The huge bouncing device from Gothor had squashed him.  We carried his limp body, for most of his bones were broken, down to his kingdom and placed it on his throne.

His son, our beloved prince, was enraged with grief and full of hate for Gothor.  “Enough of this invasion of Gothor,” he yelled.  “I seek revenge.”

Zyron had developed a ray, a death ray.  We kept the ray for use against attacking civilizations, and now the new king demanded, “Prepare the death ray; we must retaliate.”  All Zyronians knew that any planet exposed to the ray would suffer grave consequences.  The area of the sphere exposed to the ray would be destroyed.

There was a fringe of land from which the Gothorians launched their devices.  This would be the target.  The new beloved king waited for Gothor to revolve, exposing the target.

                                                      THE END   

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