SFH'07 - "For Lore Of A Fasting Earth" (632 hits)
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Submitted by kaos-king (antius777) (View user info) at 2007-08-06 07:24:46 EDT
FROM: Jack McCallum
THE PLACE: Earth
THE TIME: 5 Billion AD
FEATURING: Invading Aliens
______________________________________
He leaned back in the chair and read the information floating before him once again to make sure. After he had absorbed it a second time, he sighed and got to his feet. The aria in the background played quietly, a subtle accent to his studies. He closed his eyes and let the voice sway him for a moment, then moved towards the outer door. After running his fingers across the grace pad, the panel slid open to grant him access.
As he took his first few steps outside, the nanotechs in his body came alive with purpose. They secreted a thin liquid membrane through his pores that coated his body in a protective enviromental suit. The bio-engineering in his lungs took over and he began to process the acrid gases that had long ago replaced oxygen. It took a few moments for his eye design to reset, something he would have to have checked out when he found the time.
Looking towards the heavens, he could make out the massive fusion engines that surrounded the ancient sun, keeping it burning long past its time. Sol glowed a neon orange in the sky, powered by the same unnatural science that kept the Earth in its permanent rotation.
Glancing away from the dying orb, Nathan watched the skies for the coming invasion.
- - - - - - - - - -
It had various names: Earth, Terra Prime, Sol-3. It was a sparesly populated planet with advanced technology, once a force to be reckoned with in the universe. More millennia ago than many could remember, the Earthlings ruled much of the known Milky Way Galaxy. Then, quizzically, they had pulled back. Few of the other galactic races had been sadden by this turn of events.
The Shirrian had been little more than primitives at the the time. Shirrius was a planet somewhat comparable to Earth, but with even more water at almost 80%. They had been conquered and not even known it at the time, so behind in the interstellar game. But they had continued, they had evolved. Eventually, they had become recongnizable force in space, using their immense fleet to overthrow nearby planets and advance themselves through the age old methods of theft and pillaging.
As they cut their way through the universe, they came to hear of the legends of the Earth. Myths of an ancient and far more advanced race that had once held the entire galaxy under its control. Rumors of powers and technology, even by today's standards, were still beyond anything the Shirrians had ever seen. A race of people who had simply quit one day.
Such a promise of tresures was like a dream to the leaders of the Shirrians.
And so an armada of the finest Shirrian warships made their way across the galaxy, searching out for the quadrant that held the elusive planet Earth. There was much excitement along the way amongst the crews of these ships, for they were they ones who would be bringing untold riches and ultimate glory to the growing empire. So focused on their mission, so concentrated upon the goal of Earth, the Shirrians flew past countless systems and planets that would have otherwise been perfect for their usual conquest. No, a greater prize laid in wait at the end.
- - - - - - - - - -
Nathan strolled down the metal path towards a greenhouse-like structure. He ran a finger over the grace pad and stepped in. The building was narrow but incredibly long, alit from an unseen source. Vapor clouds amassed around the flora from various worlds and eras, the plants in a constant state of perfection. Nathan's queued a telepathic signal in his head and waited.
A couple of minutes later, a snail-like creature came slithering up between an aisle. It bowed its head in a manner of formal greeting and Nathan made a quick series of hand gestures at the other individual. The snail turned a bright shade of pink, nodded twice quickly, and hurried off.
Nathan had one more stop to make before the invasion fleet arrived. He made his way over to a teleportation node as the greenhouse began its slow decent underground behind him. Stepping in front of the giant, glowing silver ball, Nathan spoke the word of his destination and felt the cold lightning ripple off the orb and strike him.
- - - - - - - - - - -
The Shirrian were mammals like the humans of Earth. Their skin tended towards more of pale tones, and they had hair that ranged in shades from yellow to blue to green. Their facial structuring was relatively different as was the elongated length of their limb, but the resemblance between the two races was quite remarkable all things considered.
And then there was their culture. The people of Shirrius might have moved slower thanks to all that extra water holding them back, but the society had evolved in almost the same manner as their distant cousins. The art, the faith, the wars, the inventions, the philosophy... it was all so similar.
Of course, the Shirrians didn't know any of this. They simply wanted power; to hold on to what they already had, and to gain more. Another wonderful "Human" trait. No, the Shirrians blasted across the cosmos, gaining increasingly closer to their destination, none the wiser of what truly awaited them.
But those on Earth knew...
- - - - - - - - - - -
Reengineering his lungs to meet the requirements, Nathan walked into the giant pool of shimmering liquid. The nanotechs in his body built him a suit for the living water so not to contaminate it. Once emerged, he waited. Eventually, a form morphed before him of a woman much in the same shape of himself. He allowed his sensations to emanate, his feelings to swim out into the pool. The woman made of the same liquid he was submerged in immediately understood. She communicated back her desires to help, but Nathan explain his position. The woman nodded and dissipated.
Stepping out from the pool, every drop of the liquid rolled back into the pool, filling in. Nathan looked to sky, knowing he didn't have much time. The Shirrians would be here shortly. And once they got here, there would be so much work to do...
- - - - - - - - - -
The admiral of Shirrian armada had left his command chair and wandered up to the ship's view screen with his officers, just as almost every other ship's leader was doing. They were just passing the planet the Earthlings called Mars, and the intell on their sun Sol was coming in. They were staring at the fusion engines, staring at the marvels of technology so advanced it seemed almost magical. Reports were coming in; this sun was billions of years past going out. These Earthling had learned how to not only keep it lit, but... the third planet, Earth itself, was on an artificial rotation now.
Some of the Shirrian leaders began to question the move against Earth. These beings obviously had technology so far beyond them that they knew they were approaching. Must not they have weapons of a massive caliber as well? How to proceed against such an advanced race?
More intel came in. The planet was barely inhabited. Only about one million living denizens on the entire Earth. There seemed to vast amounts of technological goods and structures, but nothing that registered as a weapon. Perhaps... perhaps the Earthlings had become pacifists and now relied on their own past legends to keep aggressors at bay?
What to do admiral? Circle the planet's atmosphere.
- - - - - - - - - -
Nathan calculated every move the Shirrian's made on a personal computing apparatus that was projected from his palm. He sighed as they maneuvered their ships into the same pattern as almost every race had done before. Nathan did some quick math and deduced there was a little less than four a half million Shirrian individuals floating in the armada above.
Perhaps that would keep them satisfied for a while.
As Nathan thought that, another thought entered his head; one that told him it was time. Nathan closed his eyes and released the ghost button that activated all of the teleportation nodes in remote function. He could hear the cold lightning crackle from a few feet away.
- - - - - - - - - -
Throughout the entire fleet, every single living member of the Shirrian race saw a silver flash and felt a crackling cold. Then they all found themselves on the surface of the planet Earth.
- - - - - - - - - -
The Shirrian admiral and his officers stood there in confusion. They rarely carried weapons upon their own person while on deck within the ship, and now... now they stood facing what must be an Earthling. It was approximately the same height as them, but had no visible hair of any kind. It was thin, with large, dark eyes and a light, brownish skin. The bulge between its legs led the shocked Shirrians to assume it was male, but it was covered in a thin metallic sheen to its neck line and wrists, its feet wrapped in some kind of small strands of metal.
The Earthling's palm was up, projecting a hologram of the planet with the surrounding armada. Suddenly it vanished, and the human said something. It said something again, and then finally, in Shirrian language, it said "Hello."
"What... what is the meaning of this?" roared the admiral.
"You were attempting to invade us to steal our technology to advance your own cause. You were allowed to proceed as far as you did... for a reason," said Nathan.
"So you've somehow transported us from our ships, " said one of the officers. "We have other leaders among the other craft of the armada that..."
"No," said Nathan. "All of the Shirrian have been teleported to the surface of Earth."
The admiral laughed. "Fool, there are four times more of us than there are Earthlings! Even without weapons, we will shortly take this planet!"
"Four million times," sighed Nathan.
"What?"
"Four million times more Shirrian than Earthlings. I am the only Earthling left upon this planet, and I was engineered to exist. All the other life signs you detected were various other aliens."
The Shirrians merely stood there shocked for a moment.
Finally, one said, "But where..."
'This planet is a museum, well... maybe more like a zoo in some cases. Unfortunately, it tends to get invaded by races like you. In cases like that..." Nathan droned off and brought his palm up again.
The images that it showed were horrific. Shirrians all over the planet were being slaughtered by an unseen force, torn apart and their very life sucked from their bodies until dried husks were cast aside, broken and withered. The images flashed, rotating from one location to another, one gruesome scene replacing the next.
"What's happening!" screamed the Shirrian admiral. "What's attacking my people!"
"The true Earthlings," replied Nathan. "They long ago found that they could transcend the physical form. However they are rooted in essence to Earth. While they can travel the cosmos now, free of such concerns of starships or even bodies, they need to return here every now and again to... feed."
The Shirrian with Nathan watch in horror as four and a half million of their people were systematically exterminated.
"All the aliens on this planet are the remnants of invading races. A few are kept as specimens and to do some of the necessary work about the planet, while the rest..." Nathan trailed off for a moment.
"They allowed you to think you were invading," said the last human on Earth, "Because they were hungry."
User Reviews
Submitted by St_Jimmy (user info) at 2007-08-07 19:44:19 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Now this was good.
Submitted by i_can_get_you_a_toe (user info) at 2007-08-07 18:31:58 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by messmind (user info) at 2007-08-07 16:23:23 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
"a thin liquid membrane through his pores that coated his body in a protective enviromental suit"
Submitted by SgtHartman (user info) at 2007-08-07 15:58:32 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by beer-turtle (user info) at 2007-08-07 00:31:14 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
sorry to break the +2 streak Kaos King...
The story was good although one thing really stood out and bothered me.
With no physical form...meaning non-corporeal beings of conscious energy...why would they need to feed?
---------------------
Being an avid reader of science fiction I THINK (im not sure) but I THINK I could explain this. Usually in any other instance of science fiction when there is a claim of a being that transcends the physical form and is "energy" based, that energy usually must be fed from some other source to perpetuate itself. For instance, the beings called the "Q" from Star Trek draw their energy from radiation in the stars to maintain their existence. But who knows.
Submitted by Susie_Derkins (user info) at 2007-08-07 14:24:29 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by beer-turtle (user info) at 2007-08-07 00:31:14 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
sorry to break the +2 streak Kaos King...
The story was good although one thing really stood out and bothered me.
With no physical form...meaning non-corporeal beings of conscious energy...why would they need to feed?
Submitted by TheUniter (user info) at 2007-08-06 21:03:12 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by rob_berg (user info) at 2007-08-06 19:25:11 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
wicked!
Submitted by Crystle (user info) at 2007-08-06 19:02:17 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
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Submitted by scourge (user info) at 2007-08-06 06:58:39 PDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Another thing...I think this should have been longer.
Submitted by JonnyX (user info) at 2007-08-06 16:30:41 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
xcellent
Submitted by DirtyHarry (user info) at 2007-08-06 16:15:12 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Razor (user info) at 2007-08-06 15:58:11 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Hmm...
Submitted by SgtHartman (user info) at 2007-08-06 14:17:09 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
holy fucking shit man, for someone who doesnt write Sci Fi this is a GREAT first attempt. I do agree with Sunny a little bit that the "sciency" stuff wasnt there as much as Im used to. But it was defintiely a pleasure to read. I love the "humans transend physical form" aspect. Most def. an excellent first attempt.
Submitted by AshK (user info) at 2007-08-06 12:32:50 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by SunnyG (user info) at 2007-08-06 12:27:57 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Sorry mate, the writing was excellent as usual, but I just couldn't get into the sciency aspect...if that makes any sense. It certainly does help to have a good grounding in science, that way you can make it more convincing.
I know you mentioned you weren't really into sci-fi/science and it would be your first attempt.
But I have to +2 it, just for the storyline.
Submitted by gonefiguring (user info) at 2007-08-06 12:06:29 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by zwerg (user info) at 2007-08-06 09:53:21 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
good
Submitted by Yozz (user info) at 2007-08-06 12:00:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
pwned. I would have liked a little more on the extermination - seemed a little sterile.
Submitted by Merlina (user info) at 2007-08-06 10:30:12 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Brdn_Nkd (user info) at 2007-08-06 10:20:00 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
haha nancy boy
Submitted by Ballare (user info) at 2007-08-06 10:15:11 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Fey (user info) at 2007-08-06 10:14:16 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by scourge (user info) at 2007-08-06 09:58:39 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
This was pretty good, but you were very sloppy in your editing. Proofread, man. Why let an otherwise good tale suffer because of laziness when it comes time to do the housework?
Another thing...I think this should have been longer. I know, I know. The *GASP WTF I'M NOT READING ALL THAT!* Uber mentality can force someone into cutting things down to appeal to the wider audience. But really, those guys aren't going to be the ones reading it anyway.
Even in spite of those two complaints, this was well worth the +2.
Submitted by scourge (user info) at 2007-08-06 09:58:39 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
This was pretty good, but you were very sloppy in your editing. Proofread, man. Why let an otherwise good tale suffer because of laziness when it comes time to do the housework?
Another thing...I think this should have been longer. I know, I know. The *GASP WTF I'M NOT READING ALL THAT!* Uber mentality can force someone into cutting things down to appeal to the wider audience. But really, those guys aren't going to be the ones reading it anyway.
Even in spite of those two complaints, this was well worth the +2.
Good show, Nancy-boy, Good show.
Submitted by zwerg (user info) at 2007-08-06 09:53:21 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
good
Submitted by supadupapupa (user info) at 2007-08-06 09:47:10 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
This was excellent as usual, to be picky I could have used a little more mystery or build up to the slaughtering of the invaders, you know some suspense of the unknown instead of having it explained in one sweep. That's just being picky, though.
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2007-08-06 09:17:38 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Good stuff here, man.
As for me...
Coffee, check.
Cigarettes, check.
Decent ideas....................
Aw hell, I've got another couple of hours.
Submitted by skrapmetal (user info) at 2007-08-06 09:13:07 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I am glad you're competing against Jack, and that I don't write fiction for a living. A+ stuff here.
Submitted by kaos-king (user info) at 2007-08-06 08:45:37 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
We're SUPPOSE to be having a contest today.
Sci-Fi Horror Fest '07 (SFH'07)
Everyone is SUPPOSE to post their entries by 9am PST (noon EST) today.
So far, however...
Submitted by creep_firebombing (user info) at 2007-08-06 08:41:50 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I don't know what SFH is, but this rocked all over the place. There were a few gramatical errors and a couple of words simply missing here and there, but the concept is outstanding.
Nicely done, lad.
Submitted by kaos-king (user info) at 2007-08-06 08:36:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Thanks, TTOM.
Yeah, I didn't catch that lil' error.
Submitted by The_taste_of_Monkeys (user info) at 2007-08-06 08:34:32 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
And even with Sci-Fi you manage to turn it into horror, a skill sir.
Also "Once emerged, he waited". Surely you meant immersed.
Submitted by EmissionImpossible (user info) at 2007-08-06 08:23:04 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Hehehe nanotechs
Submitted by hour_man (user info) at 2007-08-06 07:30:47 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment