A Small Gray Dot

He reached for the mouse and clicked to pause the video as it began to repeat. He turned to us. His face was solemn.

 “It was a… glitch… in the universe, Tennessee, or specifically, the miniscule portion of it impinging on our little corner. As I said, I did a lot of observing and testing, made calculations, and have since confirmed it with a colleague. The only way I can put it is to say that the wall of the universe thinned momentarily here in Blue Heaven and the ripples from it spread over the Earth. The grid represented lines of a type of energy. Where it touched down was purely random but wherever it touched, people were destroyed.”

So were animals. They had met the same fate as people. Underwater creatures fared better, and plant life hadn’t been disturbed at all.

He sighed. “As to why it happened, well, that is a thing I have yet to decipher. I do have a theory but haven’t yet worked it out. As near as I have been able to determine, and a couple of colleagues with whom I have consulted agree, it’s an atypical anomaly and doesn’t appear to strike the same place twice, though, as with lightning, I suppose it could. I don’t yet know the frequency of it but it has happened elsewhere before.

“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.”

Chapter Twenty-nine

“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.”