by Geoff Wolak
At the embassy, we held a post-match meeting, and we congratulated each other. A good turnout, and now televised, we had gotten the game across to the masses. From here, there was no turning back; sport had arrived. Even Susan had watched the tournament back on 1938-world, and it made the news the next day on many worlds.
Moon Base Alpha
The damaged alien ship – punctured by Dark Star - had been nudged through a portal, and had been further nudged into a ready-made hangar constructed of several layers of Wonder Plastic. When the doors had been sealed, both sets, air had been pumped in, heaters activated, CO2 scrubbers started.
The scientists assigned to the moon base had stepped in after a hatch had hissed open, and had begun to keenly study the ship. They used Slumber’s DNA to open the hatch, even though there was a large jagged hole in the base of the ship. Inside, they had found what was left of the pilot, the bolt having caused metal structures to shatter, and to slice up the poor guy. The vacuum of space had done the rest of the damage.
The scientists had previously been studying the details of Slumber’s old ship, and had soon made comparisons, finding the two ships identical. Power had been cut by Dark Star shooting out the main power regulator, and a new version of that regulator had been attached. The damage to the ship had been checked, and a few circuits isolated and bypassed. Finally, after a week, they had attached a power regulator and cranked up the juice, screens coming to life.
Now, after several weeks of messing about, they had finally accessed a coded database. That database detailed my staff at the embassy, as well as myself, files and photographs available. Some of those photographs were sent across to us, and it appeared that they were poor quality snaps taken of us by the Seethans using dated rolls of film, and at a later juncture in time than now. The Zim had, basically, used press cuttings to learn about us.
Their lack of sophistication in the matter pleased us, but their choice of targets was a worry for the future. And their selection of Pleb was a puzzler, since only a brief historical record could have made Pleb appear as someone worth imitating. Someone who knew him would have never attempted to imitate our beloved top scorer.
So the Zim were looking at press cuttings that were decades old, and making choices based on them. I mentioned that to Jimmy when I linked in.
Jimmy began, ‘When I visited the Seethans future world they had knowledge of us, but it was closely controlled by the government. Seems that in around forty years the government will ask all humans to leave, and go a bit introspective. But the people themselves still think of us as god-like ancestors, and they know me well enough, and that knowledge was carried for sixty years or so. They have detailed files on humans, probably video images as well, but only to be accessed by the ruling elite. Still, all of their citizens knew my face, so I guess I have some input later on.’
‘Did that captured alien talk?’
‘They re-attached his arms, and he healed up quickly. While he was unconscious, they implanted three devices with isotopes into his spine and skull. He can’t remove them, and it would take a top surgical team to do so, and he knows that, so he hasn’t tried to escape. So far he hasn’t given us anything useful, but we think we found that world he was on about.’
‘Thatcher assassinated?’
‘President Thatcher.’
‘President Thatcher?’ I queried.
‘President of the European Union.’
‘Thatcher? She hated the European Union!’
‘Not on that world, and after the Second World War Britain alone occupied Germany.’
‘Wow. Do they - or did they - kill her?’
‘Not yet, we’re watching to see what happens, to get the exact moment.’
‘Anything odd about that world?’ I asked.
‘Americans beat Japan with a nuke dropped on Tokyo in the spring of 1943, a nuke developed by British scientists.’
‘You think … someone we know interfered?’
‘No evidence of that yet.’
‘What else?’ I pressed. ‘What happened after the war?’
‘America occupied Japan, Britain occupied Germany – a brief skirmish with the Russians to free Poland. China turned communist, but has a poor economy so far, and Africa languishes. Britain dominates Europe, so the trains don’t run on time. Russia and China are nuclear armed, but lagging behind The West, currently a flashpoint in the Middle East. Take a guess.’
‘Israel!’
‘At this date, rich American Jews are trying to take the land; it wasn’t taken in 1948. Syria and Egypt are communist, Saudis in bed with the Americans, Iran peaceful enough.’
‘So Israel will spark a war,’ I said with a sigh.
‘It looks like Syria may have nuclear weapons, so possibly a nuclear flashpoint.’
‘We could EMP the nukes with drones,’ I suggested.
‘Your lad, Toby, has come up with an idea. I’m transmitting it to you now, it’s very secret.’
‘Toby?’ I puzzled.
‘Talk tomorrow, got to go, family do.’
I sat and studied Toby’s proposal after using several password levels. I was stunned, surprised, and dumbfounded. And I needed a stiff drink. After a while I went and found Henry, and showed him the proposal. He was also shocked.
‘What has Mister Silo said?’ Henry asked.
‘Nothing yet, but he hasn’t dismissed the idea obviously, or had my son locked up in a funny farm.’
‘It is … an outlandish idea,’ Henry delicately pointed out.
‘This idea makes outlandish seem normal.’
I went to bed thinking about Toby’s suggestion, and in the morning I was still thinking about it. At the very least, his idea would confuse our enemy, as well as piss them off a great deal. I sent Jimmy a note: what do you think about Toby’s idea?
He sent back: “As we speak, your lad is trying to sell it to a few world leaders.”
That worried me, since they might think him crazy. A few days later I returned to Susan, who had also seen the proposal, and was also now concerned. Shelly paid us a visit, and she was astonished at the proposal, shouting down a video link at Toby.
Jimmy arrived a day later. ‘Many of the world leaders are in favour of your son’s proposal, so I’ve amended it.’
‘You think … it could work?’ I puzzled.
‘It could, and could seriously piss off our alien friends, not to mention confuse them. And, as a way of … altering human history, it has some merits.’
‘It does?’ I loudly queried.
‘It beats sixty years of hard work,’ he said.
Shelly was very much against the idea, but listened to Jimmy’s modified plan; she still idolised him. And three days later Toby returned to us, the plan having been modified.
‘I have enough backing, more or less,’ he began.
‘But..?’ Jimmy floated.
‘You two could swing it.’
‘We could,’ Jimmy agreed. ‘Have you seen the amended plan?’
‘Yeah, and … no problem,’ Toby agreed. ‘It’s the end result that matters.’
‘It is,’ Jimmy agreed, making eye contact with me. ‘And, if it works, could be used on many worlds.’
‘Societies, and attitudes, take decades to alter,’ I stated to my son. ‘That’s why we’re over in Seether, talking it slowly.’
‘This is not Seether, this is a human world, Cold War era,’ Toby firmly reminded me.
‘And,’ Jimmy added, ‘about to be interfered with … by aliens. Given that we don’t know how many Zim there are, or where they are, we could just go around in circles for decades. Remember, they know the future of that world as well. And that’s why I’m considering this.’ He faced me. ‘We’ll need to borrow Dark Star.’
I enjoyed a week with the boys, who were beginning to talk now, and I received video calls from Selemba, who had just about mastered a data-pad. ‘Call daddy,’ was not too hard. Her vocabulary was impressive, the accent a bit hard at times
, and Seethans tended to sound like snakes talking because of all the teeth. She explained about her Seethan friends, and that she would start nursery soon, and that she had fallen in the lake. I figured that she had dived in, rather than fallen in. Helen came on and we chatted about Selemba’s development, Helen now involved with a few projects in New Kinshasa.
Before I left, to return to Seether, Jimmy nudged a few world leaders, and Toby had a green light. I was concerned at the plan, quite concerned, but there was little to lose when faced with the prospect of a nuclear war on that world.
Thatcher, the Iron Lady
Dark Star sat in orbit over that world, undetected, monitoring EM signals from Britain. When Thatcher was assassinated, Dark Star noted the time, date and place, waiting twenty-four hours for any news on the assassin. That assassin turned out to be a Serbian with mental problems, who just happened to be in the right place at the right time, on a fake passport, and with a nice sophisticated rifle. It was a set-up.
With all of the information that it required, Dark Star returned to the Moon and slipped through a portal. On the other side it gave its report, redialled, and returned to that world two years earlier, its holographic display making it resemble a Zim ship.
At 9am, one fine summer’s day in Sydney, Australia, people noticed a strange object in the sky. A police helicopter also noticed the object and followed, surprised – if not astounded and terrified – when the odd-looking UFO blasted a TV mast, sending it crashing into the street below. The UFO disappeared, and in the days that followed became a UFO story, only one taken a little more seriously than most others. The damage was tangible, but people suggested lightning – even though it had been a clear day. Images of the UFO were flashed around the world, but few took it seriously.
A week later, Adelaide glimpsed the UFO, the local police taking it seriously enough. Another TV transmitter was attacked, a building set alight. The Australian Air Force lifted off, and gave chase. The UFO evaded them at high speed, con trails seen over Adelaide, the UFO suddenly disappearing. When it re-appeared it shot down two F111s, the crews ejecting safely. Australia was now on a war footing, other nations taking a keen interest.
Three days later, and the parliament building in Canberra was hit during a debate, the ceiling damaged, a few people injured. The Australian public panicked en masse, and the Australian Prime Minister asked the United States for emergency assistance. A US carrier battle group out of the Philippines was not too far away and so steamed south, a US destroyer presently on a courtesy visit to Sydney.
That destroyer put to sea, missiles ready - just in case. When the UFO was spotted high over Sydney, the US destroyer got a lock and fired. The missile hit nothing and landed in a field, but the UFO turned its attention to the destroyer, blasting the ships aerial tower and radar, much damage caused.
Now the Americans were very concerned, and exchanged a few heated words with the Russians, whilst never believing that the Russians possessed such a craft, or could get one to Australia. The world’s media descended on Australia, hoping to get a photograph, panicked citizens leaving the cities for the outback. Cairns was paid a visit by the UFO just a few minutes after it was seen over Sydney, suggesting that there were two craft at least. A local TV mast was blasted, people running for cover.
The US carrier battle group was now close enough, just, and launched its F14s. An hour later, those F14s were coordinating with the Australian Air Force, the UFO still hanging around Cairns. The F14s approached at speed, a lock established, a shot taken. Many people on the ground saw an explosion, and hot metal rained down. The pilot claimed a hit, but no wreckage was recovered. The metal fragments were recovered, and found to be slightly radioactive, as well as like nothing found on earth.
In the weeks that followed, and with no sightings of UFOs reported – no credible ones at least - many world experts examined the metal, and all concluded that it was like nothing found on Earth. Just as they had issued their report, the UFO reappeared over Cairns. The carrier battle group was now just eighty miles away, and launched everything it had, F14s screaming towards the Australian coast. The UFO, it was reported, turned towards them and climbed.
There followed something of a dog fight as the F14s tried to get a lock on, but couldn’t, the UFO now heading towards the carriers. One pilot fired using cannon, with no effect. Twenty miles short of the carriers, two F14s got position, only to find the UFO suddenly behind them. Both F14s were hit, their pilots and ‘rears’ ejecting. Radar on board the carriers tracked the UFO closing in at a fantastic speed, and the group’s commander felt his carrier judder as it was hit at the water line, a hole made. A second pass, and his aerial array was vaporised.
The United States went to Def Con 2, and the President called the Russians, the Russians now very concerned, and rightly so. The UFO disappeared, and three days later appeared over Christchurch, New Zealand, where it blasted a TV tower and a church spire. Just for fun, Dark Star hit a cruise liner in the Pacific, destroying its funnel.
A year passed, and no UFO attacks were recorded, a great many Americans claiming to have been abducted by aliens, all now saying “I told you so!” NATO countries met, and increased their budgets for radars, missiles, and fast jets, scientists now having a say as to what weapons might work against such a craft.
The Russians, meanwhile, were analysing images of downed American and Australian jets and damaged ships, and wondering just what the hell the craft was, and where it had come from. They bolstered their own radars defences, and their spies tried to see what NATO was coming up with in the way of new weapons.
But the greatest effect was on the people, those concerned citizens who now knew that they were not alone in the universe, and that aliens were not a friendly bunch. Many a scientist theorised about space travel and alien life forms, and the strange metals were still being examined, new theories put forwards all the time.
It had been a year, a year of public debate, a year in which it had been decided that space flight was important after all. NASA had never been more in the spotlight, not since the Apollo missions, and their budget had been duly increased by Congress, many new weapons now on the drawing board, some quite bizarre.
One year and three days after the attack on New Zealand, a ship off Australia reported that it was under attack by a UFO. The Australian Air Force launched its aircraft, the UFO spotted.
It was back, and the world went into panic mode, NATO again at Def Con 2. Sydney was hit the next day, the repaired TV mast knocked down again, a police radio mast destroyed, people showered with hot metal. The UFO moved off, and appeared a day later over Adelaide, where it blasted the tallest towers. Then it vanished.
A week later Jakarta was hit after dark, tall towers set alight, and at the same time people were reporting the craft hitting Singapore, TV stations suffering damage. The stock markets crashed across the globe, people stock-piled food, and some headed for the hills. Those already in the hills, those who had been there for twenty years fearing a nuclear war – and now a little grey, all smirked and said “I told you so”. They dusted off their stockpiles of weapons, filled up the cellars with tinned foods, and offered to sell survival manuals to newcomers.
The UFO then appeared over Manila. Finally, the USAF caught a break, and missiles streaked towards the UFO from local bases, eight of them. Several explosions were seen, and felt on the ground, hot metal raining down. The UFO disappeared, samples of the metal hurriedly analysed. A few days later it was confirmed to be the same metal. Still, these aliens were not invincible, Thatcher claimed; they can be damaged. Mobile missile units were set-up around London, emergency powers enacted; the Iron Lady was not one to back down to aliens.
The UFO was next spotted over southern India, the Indian Air Force – what it was – scrambled, their Jaguar aircraft from Britain rushing around. Delhi was hit at sun down, TV and radio masts toppled.
A few people theorised that the ship was attacking TV stations so that the news of its att
acks could not reach the people. Islamabad, Pakistan, received a visit just twenty minutes before Perth, Western Australia, was hit, everyone now certain that there were many alien ships out there. Dubai was buzzed, but not fired upon, Amman buzzed, but again not fired upon. Egypt, however, launched aircraft, just in case, and six were shot down over the Sinai, Cairo hit hard afterwards, fires started in many tall towers, many masts struck.
Cyprus was buzzed at dawn, followed by Athens, no towers attacked, the media trying to work out just why the UFO attacked, and who would be next. It seemed that NATO’s southern flank was now in the firing line, and next. Rome was buzzed late afternoon and Italy launched fighters, four shot down, the pilots ejecting. Every fighter in the European NATO region was now on alert, half of them in the air, every missile battery standing ready. In Germany, the RAF and the USAF made ready its fighter wings, ageing RAF F4 Phantoms and the new Tornados, and the new USAF F16s circling in squadrons.
The UFO appeared over RAF Wildenrath, Germany, near the Dutch border, and destroyed the base’s ageing Bloodhound missile batteries on the ground, radars and radio aerials destroyed. Fighters were vectored onto it from RAF Bruggen in the east, missiles fired. No hits were recorded in a battle that lasted an hour, three RAF Phantoms damaged. The UFO disappeared, and a quiet and tense week followed.
That quiet was a relative term, since the world was in panic mode, many countries considering Martial Law to control the panic. That panic was accentuated, for the French, when the UFO appeared over Paris, soon slicing off the top of the Eiffel Tower, which crashed to Earth on live television. The famous landmark had been closed at the time, just in case, and that case had happened. Parisian TV masts were struck, radio masts, as well as police radio transmitters.
