Bea Cannon - A Small Gray Dot

“It was simply our misfortune that it occurred here this time. I don’t think our resident aliens know why either though they do have a method of predicting when and where it will appear, and a way of using it to access any world it affects. By the way, they call themselves the Binqua. I believe the name refers to their civilization as a whole rather than a species since it seems to include the individual in the video and it is of a different species than the ones here.”

I studied him as I chewed on that before saying, “Okay, so they’re aliens, and they’re taking advantage of the Event by setting up Semptor Labs. Other than trying to do a shake down on Effingham Shipping, what are they doing that’s so detrimental? Seems to me they’re just plying their products. I don’t see how—”

Shaking his head, he interrupted me. “No, Tennessee. That’s not all they’re doing. Because a lot of our technology no longer works properly, there has been speculation that somehow, the laws of physics changed during the Event, but that is not true. In fact, physics can describe the Event. I can tell you it would take more than that to alter such a fundamental attribute of the universe.

“I personally think it would take going to another universe to see a change in the laws of physics, and at that, it wouldn’t really be a change, merely a different set of rules for a different universe. That is something that ties into my theory of why the anomaly may have happened but even so, it wouldn’t affect the rules of our universe.” He stopped, noting the what-the-hell-are-you-talking-about looks on our faces, I think, because he smiled and said, “Sorry, I digress.

“What I’m trying to say is the Binqua are the reason a lot of our technology no longer works. They are doing it with a device. Now, I haven’t a clue, yet, as to how it operates though I believe it’s an added function of the machine that keeps the Event wedged open. Moreover, it’s going to get worse. If peddling their wares actually was their only goal I would say let them sell whatever they want, and until three months ago, that actually was their objective. Unfortunately for us, at that time their reason for being here changed from that of mere opportunistic merchants.

“Now, they intend to transform our world into one on which we will not be able to survive. The alien you saw in the video lives on a world that has a different atmosphere from ours, and it has decided it wants this world for its species. Its minions are here to make this world into one on which its species can survive. What Henderson wants Effingham Shipping to haul to various cities, are terraformers, machines designed to remake the Earth. They will be placed all over the world and when all are in position, they will be activated.”

His expression became grim. “In approximately three years, we will be dead.”

“WHAT?” MORGAN EYES FLEW WIDE. “But… but why would they do that?”

The doctor eyed her. “I would hazard a guess that it’s because they want or need room and this world is convenient. It is likely close enough to theirs to be livable with a few adjustments to the composition of the atmosphere.” He shrugged. “It is probably also one of their ways of expanding. Henderson originally came to make money. He and his crew resemble us and can breathe our air. It’s easy for them to pass, but they are subordinate to this other being and it changed the mission.”

“But wait,” I said, trying to work things out in my head. “Okay, they came to make money. How would they do that? After all, our money wouldn’t have any value to them.”

He nodded. “You’re right. From what I have seen in the files, they’ve done this before. What they do is take the money they get from selling their wares and convert it by buying items they then use to sell on their worlds, such as gold, silver, precious and semi-precious stones, even lead and iron, and other such commodities. They even buy water. In fact they’ve been purchasing it in such high volumes that it has driven the price of water to tremendous heights. They apparently have no use for fossil fuels. In fact, they flood the market with those. That’s why it’s so inexpensive now.

“Usually they sell their goods to the affected world, make money, and after around ten years, they move on. But when it’s a world someone decides would be a good one for one or more of their species, then they take it. It usually takes around three years for them to complete that type of mission.”

“Well why did they disable our technologies?”

“They operate it this way so as to make it easier to fight the inhabitants if they’re discovered before they’re ready. And in the cases where they decide to take over a world, such as they now intend to do with ours, it ensures they can do so with just a few of their people, before anyone can realize why the air is changing, when it is too late to stop it.”

Clever. And the bastards planned to use us to help them kill us and steal our world.

Then my brain stilled. Something he said earlier and I’d filed away in the back of my mind pinged into my consciousness. Now that I was hearing they were on the path to scrub our world of us, it reared up and set off an alarm in my head.

“Dr. Bennett, I know you said they didn’t cause it but you also said they can predict when and where the Event – the anomaly – occurs. Could they have warned us? And if so, was there a way perhaps we could’ve protected ourselves had we known it was coming?”

He looked startled. “You know, I haven’t considered that, Tennessee, though, I would hope they would’ve alerted us to the impending danger had they been able to. As to whether we could’ve protected ourselves had we’d known… I’d say, probably so. Our basic structures, while not being harmed or destroyed by the energies from the anomaly, didn’t block their effects on living creatures. However, a number of materials, including cheap ones such as lead and water, could block the energies.

“We could’ve built shelters or issued individual covering for houses and other buildings – maybe even personal ones. All of this would have worked, and given enough time, developing something even better with which to protect ourselves might have been possible. Of course we would’ve had to have notice far enough in advance to give us time to prepare, but it could’ve been done.”

“Is there any way we can find out if they could’ve told us this thing was coming?” I hoped I was simply being paranoid but that suspicion was getting stronger.

“Er, why I don’t know, son, but there could be something within the files I, ah, procured from Henderson’s computer. I’ve not yet had time to give them a thorough perusal. I’ve only accessed the ones that revealed who they are, and what their current plans are for this world. And I was fortunate there’s a translator. Apparently, they don’t all speak the same language and a universal translator is included in all of their files, probably to render working with each other easier. I must say, it made my job of snooping easier, too.

“There could be something in there, but, Tennessee, I don’t see how they could’ve given us warning. Unless they have some type of faster-than-light communication device – and I haven’t seen any evidence of such in the records – then they wouldn’t have had a way to reach us by radio. And remember, they couldn’t use the anomaly to get here until it formed. And, as I’ve said, they did not use any type of spaceship to get here, and indeed, even if they have spaceships, their planet – or planets – are likely much too far away to have been able to reach us for hundreds, even thousands of years, no matter how fast their ships are. Why, if they hail from another galaxy, or even from far enough away in ours, it could take millions of years to reach us by spaceship.”