Space Invaders

When I arrived at my father’s home it was in the condition I had expected. They had ransacked the place looking for anything to make sense of the recent abductions. With my security clearance they had reluctantly granted me lone access. They knew I was their best shot at unlocking any secrets from my father’s final days of research. I found my father’s VR visors and just as suspected, my unique neurolink ID gave me access to his holodesk. I’m sure they’re recording all of this, and I put on a good show, spending hours reviewing files on visitors who have overstayed their welcome. Knowing my father; he would never entrust any real conclusions to the digital realm. I had not seen my father or my siblings in almost 3 years.

Things changed dramatically between all of us after Mom passed. Growing up, my Dad had been particularly tough on me as his eldest son. He wanted me to be like him, a scientist or a doctor, but I excelled in sports and subjects like History. By the time I was graduating high school, there was only one place for a patriot of Earth, and that was Spaceforce. Unidentified Flying Objects had been a story saved for Science Fiction. As video evidence grew in the early 21st century, we did nothing, we had enough problems on Earth, so we ignored it until that was no longer an option.

The Space Invaders aren’t running and hiding anymore. For eight years they slowly built up their numbers and watched down on us from plain sight. It was a message. There was little we could do. Their strategy was sound, they were careful to limit their provocations. their attacks were subtle at first, it started with manipulation of our satellites. The SpaceX Station doesn’t have the arsenal to deal with it now, we hesitated in the beginning, and now they don’t want to further provoke an enemy we clearly don’t understand.

The military knew what this was going to become. An imminent invasion of Earth was expected. It was chess, and we had to wait for their next move. They lulled us to sleep, it took nearly all of the 50s. On September 3, 2059 We finally saw them up close when they teleported to Earth and took less that one percent of our global population. No continent on Earth was spared their display of technology and strength. They took my father, but he knew they were coming for him. His voice messages sounded increasingly chaotic. I reported the messages after the 3rd, and I’m sure my Commanders are still dissecting each right now.

What my commanders didn’t know was that I had received a physical mail package from my father a week or so before they struck on the 3rd. I wasn’t trying to hide it from anyone. My father sent it to my private P.O. Box from an alias only his family would recognize and a different return address than his own. My father wouldn’t take all these precautions without a reason. At first, I wasn’t completely sure it was my father who sent the package until I opened the padded manila envelope and first found a little black moleskine notebook. I first opened the notebook at random, and instantly recognized the handwriting. Also inside the envelope were two bands each holding 10,000 dollars. My father knew, at the very least, $20,000 in cash would get my attention. It’s too bad I hadn’t had a chance to go to the post office in almost a month.

It took 10 days from the attacks to get permission to come home. Both my younger sister and brother quickly uprooted their families to relocate. So here I am Pop, you finally got me to come back. I finally put down the VR Visors and casually stroll the bedrooms and living room. His entire home is filled with portraits of us as children. I found a picture of my mother in her early 20s that I’m not sure I’ve even seen. Finally I push open the heavy door to his library and office, and so many old memories bombard me. You couldn’t mistake this room for anything else, it still looks like an oil canvas from another historical era.

My father’s first loves were reading and writing. Dr. Raymond Paulino had written several books in his life, the acclaim and money came from his work on the mounting fleet of alien spacecraft. My father loved his Science Fiction. His shelf is filled with classic texts from authors like Ray Bradbury, Frank Herbert, Neal Stephenson, and Robert Heinlein. I know my Commanders at Spaceforce have me under surveillance. I wouldn’t expect anything less from them. I walk behind my father’s desk and look over the collection he cherished most. This is the perfect place to frame.

My neurolink is open, and I’ll have to time this perfectly. The place has cameras all over by now, but my cloak will freeze my image hopefully undetected for a few minutes on all devices in the room. I had to know what my father wanted me to know first. Looking over his little black notebook, I knew where he wanted me to go. He used to punish me as a kid by locking me in this library to read before he made it his office. It was only many years later that I realized it wasn’t a punishment. I reach up and pick up a novel from the Frank Herbert Dune series, the God Emperor of Dune, I open up to the beginning, and my neurolink freezes the image.

I set up my timer. I open up my father’s little black notebook again and I know the pattern on the pages. I moved away from his personal collection. Each entry page had one number included. Only I would be able to find this; I was the one who helped him organize this library when he first started it. It’s kept growing over the years. It looks random, but I know better.

My father didn’t believe in trophies, and he never displayed his own work in the library. He did make an exception, his first novel that he self-published in his 20s. I see two copies of CHOSEN out of place, and next to each other. One copy he’d keep around, maybe, but a second copy, never. I pull out the thick 500 page novel. I feel the weight disparity. This copy has been hollowed out. Inside of it I find a neurolink video module. I grab it, replace the book, and the virtual cloak still holds, but I decide to time-in and move around a bit. I would have heard by now if anything nefarious was suspected by any authorities. I reboot the cloak, and create a new loop of me, still standing there looking through an old hardcover Dune novel. My neurolink resets and the camera image of me freezes once again.

I don’t move far this time but I connect the module to my private neurolink station. My Contacts project a video of my father sitting at his desk behind me. I know it’s not him, but it looks so real. In the recording, he takes a moment, in silence, and he seems to stare into me,

“My son, I knew you would be the one to find this message. If you are reading this, unfortunately for you, I am not dead. Your brother and sister have also been warned. I left you $20,000 and it’s just to get you moving. I am giving you the only thing that I can now, a head start, please run, Jason, as far away as possible. I will be used against you.

“By now our supposed abduction has shocked the world. The truth is that I and everyone else chosen was asked to join this new society. They have shown me technology that was once inconceivable to me! I call them The Others, but individual names do not matter to them. Humans do not have the necessary vocal cord range to speak their language or to pronounce their name properly. I have dreamed of this for so long, Jason! If anyone could understand my excitement, it is you. Throughout it all, all of this life, I always dreamed of other worlds. I was offered a gift, but I had to choose to go against you, for now. Your superiors at Spaceforce will use you against me. The Others tempted me with such a precious gift unbeknown to man, and that is extra time to live this fragile life of mine. When you see me again, my body may appear younger than you are now. I will be an ambassador who has pledged to help facilitate this transition. I could not resist the prospect of returned youth.

“We can only have full access to their scientific marvels if we submit to them peacefully. They can speak to us in our dreams. I know how long and hard you’ve built your career in Spacefore. I know how you have prepared to fight a great war against these so called invaders. The Others will destroy you all if you resist. Now, go through this house and take everything of value. All the frames are silver, tell them it’s sentimental. You will never have access to most of my credits, they will be seized, and our family will be marked as traitors.I have made this choice, but the consequences will not only fall on me. I’ve dragged you into this without your consent, and for that, I am so very sorry my son. Included in the moleskine little black book, on the back of the last page, is a Monero cryptocurrency account 25 word seed. You can access those funds from anywhere in the world. Learn it, and destroy it. You have everything I can give you without bringing you increased and unnecessary suspicion. Trust in me, believe in me, we will meet again. As you watch this message I should be aboard one of their ships undergoing their aging reversal treatment. Thank you for coming here. At this moment you must be extremely upset at me, but you need to get over this shock very quickly unless you prefer to be a hostage. Now go my son, there isn’t much time.”