Nathan Hystad - The Event

They spoke in hushed voices, and I didn’t put much thought into it as my eyes closed and the hum of the commentators shrank in my eardrums.

“Don’t worry about him, Bob. I put something in his beer. You know I hate doing this to him. Can’t we just talk when he’s at work?” Janine’s voice carried over to me.

“It couldn’t wait.”

“Well, what is it?”

There was a pause. “Plans are changing. I think we need to move to plan B. Teelon’s plan.”

Silence. “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. The Kraski are desperate, and they won’t stop until they find a new home for themselves. I know some of us feel like we owe them, like they’re our parents, but the truth is, they’ve done nothing but grow us in a lab and send us out to do their dirty work. The Deltra want to help the humans. We have no choice but to trust them.” Bob’s voice was a hurried whisper. The kind that wasn’t really a whisper at all, but I could hardly process what they were saying. The room was still spinning.

“So it’s true? The Kraski homeworld is gone?” Janine sounded like she was on the verge of spilling tears.

“Yes. It’s true. Billions of them were killed before they could board the transport vessels. Word is the Valiant got away, and they took the vessels with them.”

“Why take the transport vessels if they don’t have the population to move any longer?” Janine asked, voice strained.

“Take a guess. Humans. They’re going to take everyone off the planet, turn off the Shield, and voila. They have a new world. Sounds simple enough, right?”

“So we play along, but in the end, switch sides and do what Teelon says. Get our people… our spouses,” she paused, “to get to the Shield, bring it to the Valiant , and kill the Kraski. Then the Deltra will bring the humans back, and everyone lives in peace and harmony. Sounds like a long stretch, but I do trust Teelon. He hasn’t given us a reason to not believe him.”

I heard their words, but they seemed to flow in one ear and out the other.

“Will Earth be safe from the Kraskis’ enemies?” Janine asked. “They’ve destroyed billions of lives, countless planets.”

“The Kraski think they have technology to prevent leaving traces to follow, but they’re worried about being crossed. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Deltra, the Kraski, or even one of us has been turned. If that’s true, then there’s no hope. Earth’s destruction will be inevitable.”

I tried to cling to their words, but I was falling deeper into sleep. Soon I drifted off fully, and when I woke, I shook my head clear, and saw the game was well over.

“Was someone over, honey?” A vague recollection that was probably nothing more than a dream stuck in my brain like cobwebs.

Janine walked in smiling and set a cup of coffee down in front of me. “No. You just dozed off watching the game.”

My eyes sprang open, remembering that fall day like it was yesterday. I struggled to get up and managed to get on my feet, looking like nothing more than a surfboard, I was sure. I tried to walk but ended up moving my feet like I was “walking” an appliance. Slowly, I made it to the door, which slid open for me. Carey followed closely as I made my way down the hall.

“Mary!” I called, until someone came to me.

“Who are you looking for?” a young boy asked me with a thick accent. His clothes were dirty, but I couldn’t help feeling relieved to see another human standing and healthy.

“Mary? Do you know her?”

“Of course, we all know her. She saved our lives. Does that mean you’re Dean?” he asked, smile growing wide.

“That does. Do you know where she is?” I asked, feeling my back twinge. It was much looser than it had been, and moving seemed to help.

“This way.”

I followed slowly, and soon we were in a room where Mary was sorting through supplies.

“Mary,” I said, and she turned to me. “Son, can we have a moment?”

The boy blushed and ran down the hall.

“Dean, what are you doing up?” she asked.

“I don’t think it’s over. There’s another threat.”

The Jeep stopped in front of my house. There was so much to do, but I had no doubt we couldn’t pull it together as a whole. From rotten food in everyone’s fridges, to worrying about pets, things would get back to normal for many of us. The past couple days had been hard but wonderful at the same time. Over half of the world’s population was dead, either by running into the sun or from illness on the vessels, like dehydration and lack of sustenance. It was horrific. Stories were coming out about everyone’s time on the vessels, and references to great wars, and hiding on boats to come to America were compared. But there was no real comparison. Earth would never be the same again.

Carey trotted along with me, and I felt tears welling in my eyes as I remembered looking over the lists. Susan, my neighbor, was among those lost in the Event . That was what they were calling it now. The Event. As if there was any name that could justify the real truth of it all. Most people still didn’t know what had happened, they were just glad to be alive and back home. Some ships fought to land elsewhere, not willing to go back to their countries if given a choice. With so much open space now, it was agreed that Canada, the US, and some European countries would take in refugees at this point. I wasn’t sure that the whole world wasn’t in refugee status now.

Carey started to go to his old house, and I knew I would let him in soon enough, but for now, I urged him to my house, and he happily obliged. I grabbed a few things, clothes mainly, and locked back up. This wasn’t my home any longer, and I doubted I’d ever live here again. I had a new life lined up. I went back to the Jeep, where armed guards were waiting. It was a couple hours’ drive to New York, even though they’d already begun the highway clear-up. The vehicles had been left with keys in them, most running out of gas, so they’d had to bring tankers, fill them up and drive them away to large fields. I would let the bureaucrats worry about the logistics of getting people their cars back.

A few hours later, I walked into the UN building in New York for the first time. Magnus, Natalia, and Mary were waiting in the lobby and I ran to them, enveloping my partners in crime in a massive group hug.

“Am I ever glad to see you guys,” I declared.

Everyone looked well-rested and clean. Magnus almost looked a different man, clean-shaven and with a tie on. I supposed I probably did too. I looked down and saw Nat and Magnus’ hands intertwined, and I gave them a grin.

“Are you guys ready for this? We tell our story, then the world tries to start over,” Mary said.

“I’ll just be glad when it’s all over. I want nothing more than to disappear and let the government worry about everything now. Don’t we deserve that?” Natalia asked, and I was still surprised to hear her voice.

I had a feeling that it wasn’t quite over for us but kept it to myself. We headed into the UN General Assembly Hall, where massive screens were set up, playing live feeds of the largest mass funeral in the world’s history. From around the world, we were sending the dead back into space on the vessels. I had been amazed at the support for the idea, with so many conflicting religious beliefs out there, but everyone seemed to be okay with it. Cleanse the planet instead of burying three or so billion people.

We watched as the containers, as we had called them, lifted into the sky and were remotely sent out of the atmosphere and into space. This took over an hour, and many were openly weeping. I thought of my mother, who hadn’t made it, and countless others who were huge parts of my previous life, now floating in space. I was glad to know that my best friend James was among the survivors, and I was looking forward to seeing him again.