Bright New Things

Let me tell you a story.  Let me tell you how I came to be here awaiting my doom.  The Angaran appeared on every screen and device throughout our Planet during the first Tuesday in June.  It’s appearance shocked many on Earth as it closely resembled that of our own human features.  The only discernible difference was it’s forehead which appeared translucent on the surface allowing a glimpse of it’s inner workings.  It’s internal electrical synapses sparkled and fizzed as it spoke.  The Angaran introduced itself to the masses watching as being a Representative of the Planet Angara’s Royal Family.  Angara was found in the collection we know as Andromeda, and had long ago discovered a wormhole, which allowed them safe passage between our Galaxies.

It was able to have this discourse with the whole of our Planet via technology far superior to anything we understood.  It’s own language immediately translated into the national parlance of the Nation’s telecommunication system it was hijacking.  There were occasional mistakes, for instance it seemed unable to translate adverbs well, but overall each person watching the images fully understood exactly what it was saying. The Earth had finally found a common language.

Fascinatingly the Representative explained that the Angaran’s had spent many years scrutinising our Solar System known to them as Helios 9 and had found life forms able to communicate to a suitable level on seven of them.  It seemed disappointed that none of the Planets, which the Angaran’s scouting parties visited, had managed to take the step of contacting their neighbours. It accepted that it was not for want of trying by the various occupants but the knowledge gained was a long way from reaching the ultimate goal.  

The Representative explained that the eldest child of it’s Royal family was about to celebrate a landmark birthday.  It was the Angaran King’s wish that the brightest of each of the inhabited Planets of Helios 9 be invited to the birthday celebrations and live among them allowing the wisest of the Angaran’s to pass on information ultimately allowing a two way channel of communication and visitation to be put into place.  The transportation chambers would be landing on the Northern most point of each of the Planets on the last day of the month known to us Humans as July.  Each Globe had to discover the brightest and most suitable candidates to visit Angara and be recipient of their advanced scientific intelligence. 

There was one proviso.  Peace must be established on each of the Worlds all of which at that time had wars between by various collections of it’s inhabitants.  The Angaran’s had long discarded the concept of War realising the futility and nonsensical nature of it’s true purpose.  Diplomacy was the only answer.  This was their mantra.  By applying their intellect to the pursuit of knowledge and improvement of existence, whilst discarding wasting genius on death and annihilation they had expanded their technology and discovered an expansion of travel through both outer and inner space.   They would not allow their culture to be tainted by outside influences affected by an age-old desire to combat.   

The Angaran’s could only able to provide safe passage for three messengers from each Planet.  This was to be repeated on an annual basis, allowing more of our scientists to be transported and educated.  There was the possibility of increasing the numbers making the travel in the future but this was dependent on the success of this initial experiment.

The Earth responded beautifully.  Men and women of all cultures, religions and creeds came together united as one in the goal of discovering this frontier.  Peace was established within weeks. The recognition of trans-galactic travel alongside interplanetary communication and the opportunities this could deliver was too great a carrot to be wasted.  There were small warring sections, but these were minor in the overall global climate.   Each Country was placed in a Lottery allowing three to be selected. Argentina, Australia and The United Kingdom.  This is where I come into the story, for my name was pulled from the hat.  A hat filled with the names of the highest elite scientists and engineers of our various nations.

I was taken alongside my Argentinian and Australian colleagues to the North Pole on the last day of July and placed on a spot designated by the Angaran’s co-ordinates.  I cannot explain the transport details because one second I was stood in the Arctic Circle and the next I was waking in a room bereft of any decoration. The vastness of the space was initially overwhelming.  My eyes were unable to become accustomed to the dimensions.  My feet were unable to move as they had been placed into a stock, which was impaled into the ground.  I could smell a substance and felt stickiness on my face and hair.  The surface of the ground was smooth, though did not appear solid.  It resembled something I could not at that point picture but within my mind schemata were being pulled from files.  My hands were fastened securely behind my back.

My vision coming into focus noticed the others also contained in this restrictive manner.  My colleagues from Earth, alongside the aliens from the other Planets were positioned in a circle.  Fleetingly I wondered if my features looked as panic-stricken as theirs.  I’m sure they did. The roof was stripped from what was fast becoming to feel like a cell and light was introduced to the room.  I had a feeling of motion as if the entire base we were balancing on was being transported.  Alongside the introduction of light a cacophony of noise was forthcoming.  At this point I recognised the Angaran’s.  What had not been apparent via the screens we had greedily lapped up their empty promises and words from was the sheer size of the Race.  They were a good twenty times the size of humans. It became apparent that we were being transported through a humungous Hall full of braying and celebration.  Where we about to be introduced to the Prince on the occasion of his birthday?  Oh God, no.  It can’t be.  But of course my subconscious had known what was going to occur the minute I noticed the surface of our floor. 

Three of the brightest individuals from each of the seven Planets?  The Prince's Birthday? Obviously 21 was not only a significant milestone achieved by the population of Earth.  I dizzied as I saw the first of us being set on fire.  It was the Argentinian.  Her hair disappeared and her skin melted from her face, though the emollient they had placed on our upper bodies did not allow the flame to extinguish.  One after another was set fire to until it came to my turn.  Screams filled the air, though undoubtedly far too small to be noticed by the Angaran Prince and his Party.  As the flame was placed to my head I remember thinking the problems the translators had experienced with adverbs.  Obviously they actually meant the brightest individuals.  We were the Prince's Birthday Candles.  At this point it went dark.