The Prometheus Effect (12 page)

Joshua felt compelled to recount Jimmy's tale even though he toned down the agonising torture aspect, at least it gave the comfort that these were intelligent humanoid creatures and not hunters or killing machines set on genocide. Jimmy had lived to tell the tale, he had awoken with his body and mind intact although the anxiety remained. He had clearly been abducted, studied, tested and then put back into the water like some under-sized fish. If these were scientific minds then there was maybe a chance to settle any differences peacefully, a fact that Joshua reiterated to those in the office who had taken the news particularly badly.

Joshua eventually returned to a fitful slumber. There was no point in holding a vigil, there seemed little any one could do except wait for the next announcement. When the dishevelled reporter awoke as the bright light of the day streamed through the office windows, nothing had changed. The city was so quiet. Sarah Palmer sat at the window which she had opened as far as it would go and gazed through the narrow opening out into the street.

“
You OK?” Joshua asked as he pulled himself upright from the sofa. His suit now crumpled and his immaculate white shirt decidedly dirty.

“
Yep. Fine.” She replied not for a moment averting her gaze.

“
Do you wonder what the significance of the red sky is?” She asked quizzically.

Joshua stood and walked over to her. The cool November breeze blew in through the gap and helped widen his tired eyes.

“
Perhaps it's some by product of a kind of gas that's meant to make us all subject to their bidding.” He replied with a smile.

“
Well I’m not feeling that at the moment. If one of those bubble head fuckers walked in here I’d chin the bastard.” She laughed allowing her sense of humour to escape through her usually tightly woven veil of feminist candour.

“
Yeah, I believe you would.” Joshua chuckled and pulled up a chair beside her.

“
I want to see them. I'm tired of waiting. I want some kind of proof that it's real and that we're not just sitting here as part of some rich oligarch's last wet dream before he pops his clogs. You know what I mean?” Sarah was even more cynical than Joshua.

“
I know what you mean. It all seems to incredible, but I don't think its within any individuals power to put on a show like this no matter how rich they are. I guess it's like the giant meteorite thing, we know at some point in the next zillion years it's going to land and wipe us all out, it's a matter of time. It's also logical to expect there to be alien life on other planets, maybe we have been given clues that they were coming from years back but we just haven’t listen hard enough to the people that knew. We've laughed at those poor bastards and now we understand exactly what they've been trying to tell us.”

Sarah turned and looked at Joshua, her immaculately presented face was now a little reddened, bags had appeared under her eyes and her makeup had been smeared by tears.

“
I don't believe it. Not any of it.” She said with a steadfast assuredness. Joshua raised his eyebrows.

“
Is there not enough proof already to suggest that this world has changed forever?” He asked, looking up at the red sky.

“
I guess it all depends on how willing you are to accept the 'facts'.” She said turning back to the window, the red glow of the morning sun tuning her features pink.

“
Maybe if I hadn’t heard Jimmy's account, I’d be more like you, more sceptical. I saw the look on his face, I felt the pain he had experienced. Do you know, what I find amazing is that until now I think I have genuinely accepted everything that has happened as the truth. You've made me think a bit, I guess that's a good thing.”

Sarah once again turned to Joshua.

“
You know, if you went to the Brazilian rainforest wearing a wetsuit and an oxygen tank, there would be people there who would believe you to be some kind of demon, or 'Star Man'. They'd either bow down to you in fear for their lives or kill you with their poison darts. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Joshua fell silent as he tried to comprehend Sarah's clumsy analogy. He got it though, and in many ways she was right. Ignorance breeds fear and sometimes fear breeds ignorance. There was no doubt that of the seven and a half billion souls on Earth that had woken up that morning and looked upon the darkened burgundy atmosphere, the vast majority would have fell to their knees in terror and disbelief. How they wished to interpret the knowledge that had been slowly drip fed to them was another matter. Joshua had himself been swept along in the waves of fear but maybe Sarah Palmer had just done enough to throw him a float. Her refusal to give in to the accepted facts had empowered him to think a little more carefully about how he perceived the information he had been given. It inspired his natural curiosity and caution, some of the traits which had made him such a formidable journalist. Maybe what Joshua needed now was exactly the very thing Sarah had joked about, he needed to see with his own eyes the dreaded threat that they had been told was a very clear and present danger.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

November 18
^th
2020

Great sighs of relief greeted the next broadcast after almost two full days of silence. The city had remained chillingly quiet and the streets had remained empty as the people sat at home hungry, cold and tired with nervous exhaustion. Even the hunger could not drive the citizens of London to take action and search for food. It was clear that the armed forces were steadfast in their orders and few dared to challenge them. It perhaps came as a surprise just how many people continued to wait, like lambs queuing for slaughter as they yearned the next update. What was going on? Why was there so little information? Was there an unseen war being fought somewhere and if so, how was it progressing? These were the questions that were being posed with little chance of a satisfying answer.

Joshua and his colleagues had become very familiar with each other in the week that would never be forgotten. They amused themselves by playing games, constructing home comforts and debating the possibilities of the future world. Certainly Joshua and Sarah had become firm friends, they realised they were remarkably similar in many ways. It was not a romantic relationship thus far, but the isolation of the office seemed to bring people closer together and the extreme situation that they were faced with appeared to highlight human needs for physical comfort.

Once again, an agitated huddle surrounded the television. The previous message, looped over and over was eventually muted and ignored. There was only so many times they could stomach the repetitive video. When another blank screen appeared, it seemed that it was likely that it would once again jump into life and deliver the news they had all longed for. Billions of people held their breath awaiting the next revelation.

The same dark haired man appeared abruptly without warning or introduction as before. At first, someone groaned as they believed it to be the same message that had played for the last two days but they were quickly shut up by the others who knew that this was different. The announcer once again spoke slowly, leaving significant gaps between sentences.

“
This is a news update. We once again thank you for your patience at this very difficult time. We understand that this period of silence has been extremely difficult for all but we must stress, it has been vital in our efforts to protect the people of the world as we enter new and turbulent times.

After this brief news update, a limited regional broadcast service will begin. We are endeavouring to maintain communication to keep you informed of the latest information. Please continue to be patient at this time. For the present, uphold all previous requests and do not venture out of your homes.

And now a news update. Further to information previously broadcast, we can now confirm that the attack on our planetary communication networks is indeed an act of hostility from an unknown extra terrestrial source. Using extraordinary measures, world leaders today are uniting to hold talks which will decide restorative actions and agree defensive initiatives to prevent further strikes. Emergency communicative networks have been established and are being used to bring together resources and manpower in order to better understand the alien threat. Do not attempt to send or receive communication at this time. Your actions may not only hinder vital progress in our efforts to defend ourselves but may also provide our enemies with information which may prove costly to you and your neighbours.

Until such time that we can begin negotiation with our enemy, we are effectively at a state of war. We have not yet identified the origins of our enemies nor received any ultimatum or motive for their attack. Vigilance is key. Further broadcasts will be released imminently regarding methods of communication for those with clear and precise information regarding any possible alien activity. It is important that these lines of communication are used only in the most relevant circumstances.

We have already seen that our enemies are not only intelligent and sophisticated technologically, but also have reasons to believe that they may have been existing amongst the population of the Earth for some time and may appear in an unexpected and familiar human-like form. Protect your families and neighbours but use extreme caution if approaching or divulging information to persons not well known to you. It is thought that their familiarity with our infrastructure has arisen from a number of covert operatives posing as humans and integrating themselves into our society. At this time, government agencies from across the globe are identifying and apprehending these imposters. It has already been seen that a number of significant and influential individuals are believed to be affiliated with the enemy forces. At this time, these individuals cannot be named but investigations are ongoing.

This bulletin will be broadcast every ten minutes and another more regular update is hoped to be brought to you on the hour. Once again, we thank you for your cooperation. Together we can prevail, remain vigilant.”

Joshua looked over to Sarah who was as open mouthed and aghast as the rest of them.

“
So now they're saying that there are aliens amongst us? I guess we should have expected that one.” Sarah remarked pessimistically.

“
Well I’d have you first on my list of possibles.” Joshua replied with a dry wit.

“
I suppose so. Anyone who remotely has any misgivings about the whole affair is always going to be the first one dragged into the street and taken to the gas chambers. This stinks of something decidedly fascist and clandestine to me.”

Sarah was not one to hold back her concerns, whilst the other staff returned to their seats in terrified contemplative thought, she was busy blowing the whole thing wide open with her brazen lack of faith in the broadcast. Joshua could see her point and wished that he could be so dismissive of the horrific news. Just then, the eerie quiet of the gloomy office was broken by the unexpected and bizarre sounds of classical music emanating from the television. Joshua could not recognise the composer but it was a fairly brassy, noble piece. If it was meant to be inspiring or uplifting, its effect may have been misjudged.

“
Yay, we've got some banging' tunes!” Someone yelled out inappropriately.

“
Better than silence I guess. It's all very Imperial, I wonder how it's going down in the Middle East?” Sarah japed.

“
Let's hope this is a regional broadcast like they said.” Josh replied. The hope of more regular news was uplifting in itself but what was really needed right now was the resumption of everyday services such as the shops and travel. How long would they be forced to starve before the public showed their desperation and said enough was enough?

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

November 18
^th
2020

Atlantic Drive, Orlando, Florida

Roger Coffey peered out of his window, carefully pulling the curtain to one side as an army Jeep made its way steadily up the steep road to his house and pulled up outside. Coffey's hand dropped to his waistband and he slowly lifted the hem of his shirt and felt the reassurance of the Glock pistol concealed beneath. The second message had made it clear that the 'alien threat' was not wholly from the direction of the stars and deep down, Coffey had almost expected this. Two uniform clad soldiers climbed out of the vehicle. They both clutched weapons, the first a hand gun of some variety, the other an assault rifle. They joined up and walked steadily to the front door in quiet conversation.