Like an endless line of ants, the passengers, who had waited patiently hours for the
doors to open, slowly started to fill the void inside the giant metallic vessel.
Unlike any similar aircraft ( not that anything like this had actually ever been seen before ) this
one consisted of a large central circular room, where everybody would be facing
inwards; towards each other. At any other time, this would possibly have created an opportunity
for social ambience, but a feeling of uncertainty still hung in the air, along with the veil of
silence that goes with it. It wasn't long until the remaining few of the ‘Thousand Chosen’ finally
took their seats, and then as one, they waited stoically for the start of their journey.
Each, and every country around the globe had also received instructions on how to build
such a vessel, which up until that point in time, had been beyond the know-how of even the
most gifted of minds. But now, as two-hundred thousand people sat waiting to take a journey
few had ever expected to have taken, some took a long look at the Earth below, knowing that
without question, it would be their last.
Though the words seemed taboo, and had gone unspoken, every person on every spaceship,
knew that their imminent voyage would be one way only. Suddenly, there was a increasingly,
noticeable vibration, and passengers exchanged looks with strangers opposite, in a vain attempt
to draw confidence. But no strength was forthcoming. The sensation seemed to come out of
nowhere, and had soon enveloped everything inside the vessel. There were cries of anguish now,
whilst others sobbed, and others too let out a jumble of words which had been intended to be
prayers. Finally, without notice, there was an unimaginable surge of rushing energy, and in
absolute unison, all the spaceships shone a light brighter than a thousand suns, and then were
gone.
It had still been only a matter of a couple of months since we had received the first of several
communications from the alien race, and the world was still slowly finding it’s way through the cloak of
disbelief that followed it. Or was it trepidation. After countless years, or more certainly centuries, or
even millennia, we had instantly been provided with the answers to some of the many questions we
doubted we would ever know the answers to. This in itself had then provided even more questions
which we knew were close to being answered; though the tentative wait weighed heavily on the
shoulders of the people of earth. Man had looked to the skies since the dawn of time in wonderment of
the firmament above. The stars, though it would be generations before we knew that is what they were,
would remind us of our limitations as we travelled our inexorable journey through time. It seemed that
the more we learned, the more that there was to learn, but one question would eventually rise above all
the others. Are we alone?
So we looked for ways to seek out any possible new life, and developed the means to send
communication to the waiting universe, that we were here. We lacked the know-how ourselves to visit
any possible distant worlds, but maybe any alien life out there was more advanced than we were. Surely
they had developed the means to come to us? Or at least, know how to communicate with us. Radio
telescopes sent wave after wave into the abyss above us, but for decades we were just met with silence.
Well maybe not silence, hissing that remained from the birth of the universe, but certainly not the ‘hello’
we were looking for. As we dug deeper for possibilities, we discovered ‘new’ worlds which could
possibly contain life like our own, or more likely other life forms, beyond the imagination of anything we
had so far envisioned. Space craft left our planet with a calling card that announced our presence, but as
these faded from our grasp, we consoled ourselves with the thought that if we were ever going to indeed
meet aliens from far distant galaxies, then they would need to come to us. And in a way they did.
An amateur astronomer was the one who would first detect the signal.
Whilst he was about to close down for the night, he found a signal which to the average ear seemed just
like any other interference. But this astronomer knew what the expected signal would sound like, and it
wasn't long before the powers that be had taken over, and the news went global. The sceptics had
argued that any first contact, and there were several stories already going round that ‘first contact’ had
long since been made, would be hidden from the general public. But this was not the case. The media
talked about nothing else whilst the experts deciphered the signal which would confirm the authenticity
of alien life.
Finally we knew that we were no longer alone.
Not only that, these aliens had provided the means for us to travel to their world, to visit them. Actually,
every nation on earth was provided with the details needed to build a spaceship which would
accommodate a thousand of it’s ‘people;’ the lucky chosen few who would be the first of humanity to
cross the huge void that is deep space. The details had been delivered in many languages, and had been
simple to translate. However, it would be weeks before the first of our greatest ‘minds’ had gotten their
heads around the details of the message, and what it entailed. It seems that this first contact came under
the heading of ‘Earth Pod’ which was understood to be the name of a spacecraft which we had been
given the ‘key’ to building. Though the finished article wasn't a true pod-shape when it was eventually
completed, this seemed hardly relevant when we considered the greater meaning of what now stood in
front of us, and the possibilities which it now gave us.
The aliens asked us to fill each of the spacecraft with a thousand volunteers; representatives
from earth who would take the one way trip across the skies. This started a seemingly endless debate of
who should be selected, and which selection process should take place. Eventually, lotteries were
drawn amongst those still in their athletic prime of the their lives, as undoubtedly the journey would be
a test of agility. Those without dependants, were single, and had good genetic codes were suggested in
the alien communication, and so most of the candidates would finally come from military backgrounds.
This process was repeated throughout the globe, until at last, two hundred thousand of the Earth’s finest
were ready for the most fantastic mission of their lives.
And how fantastic that journey was.
Not knowing the details of how so many people could travel so far, with so little in the way of
sustainables, the answer came when within days of leaving what we presumed was the edge of our
solar system, the seats of all the crew turned horizontal, and so it was then that we were placed into
stasis; an hibernation that would last for five years. But our muscles didn't waste away during this long
sleep, because from time to time, robotic arms would take each part of our bodies through exercises, on
a rota basis. Food and drink were fed to us by drip, whilst our minds were kept active by music, and
other educational talks played out amongst the pod.
And so it was that we finally came to this place, so far across the galaxies from our home.
Indeed, with no chance of ever returning to planet Earth, this new world will now be the place which we
will give that name to. So what had we expected to find at the end of our journey? It amuses me to say
that we had spent so much time determined to make this trip, that so little thought had actually gone into
debating what we would find. And of course, Earth being so far away from this ‘new world’ another
thing lost to us was the means to inform Earth about what we did find. But of course my new friend, you
also have a story such as mine to tell. For is it not true that you also did not foresee the predicament that
has befallen us all? Did you not also believe that the name ‘Earth Pod’ implied the name for the
spacecraft that brought us all to this planet? But of course, you would not have called it the same name
as we did, because of course you came from a different planet to us, did you not?
So how foolish we have all been. But then again, we had no reason to not believe in, or not
trust, this superior race that had contacted us. It is plain to see now that all has been revealed to us, that
maybe we, would also have laid the same plan that has resulted in us now standing on this battlefield.
Is it not better to have ‘others’ fight your ageless war, rather than your own children. Tell me my friend,
would you not also have planted a seed to a new civilisation in a far off galaxy, so that your war could
be fought without any casualties to your own people? Would you not also have sent out an olive branch
that would provide the means to bring these ‘troops’ to your battlefront? Would you not also have
named this new planet that was to be a breeding ground for you soldiers, a ‘Pod’?
You see, now I understand the name ‘Earth Pod’ was not the name given to the ships that
would bring us to this hell. It was the name of the planet that these aliens created, so that they would
have eternal breeding grounds, for all the soldiers that they would ever need to fight their war.