The Landings

Here's a short story I wrote a couple of years ago for another short story competition for SFX Magazine although at the time I never finished it until I went back to it earlier this year.
Hope you enjoy - The Landings -

I remember the landings clearly, as if they had only happened yesterday.  It was a spectacular event of two races coming together for the first time.  What made it even more astonishing was that neither race knew the other existed.

It was an accident really, but one that was destined to happen especially with all the signals being beamed into space by both races and eventually after decades of signals being bounced around the vastness of space they found one another.

There was excitement on both planets as the first messages between the two spoke of peace and unity and a sharing of knowledge.  It changed the lives and attitudes of both planets and their own beliefs too.  Now the people of both worlds knew they were not alone.

On Earth there was a universal bonding of religion as what was preached before was now generally regarded as void.  Definite life from another world was all the proof needed that the old religions had got the past wrong.  Although there were some devotees to their cause who described what was happening as evil and still preached their old ways.  Wars stopped on both planets and a time of peace ensued.

After many communications and messages between each other the decision between the leaders of both worlds was to meet on planet Earth.  This was agreed because Earth wasn’t as advanced.  Although all the communication took place over ten years the news of what was said was exciting and Earth shattering.

Eventually the big day finally arrived.  Excitement and nerves were at the forefront for everyone and every race.  Two races would at last meet and this was a big day for me as well.  For ten years I had been looking forward to this,  seeing a new race in the flesh.  When news of communication was known the first thing I did was join the new Space Corp which was set up to train our people in handling interspecies contact.  We learned of what the new planet would look like,  the customs and rituals of the alien species.  My parents were dead against it and tried to persuade me not to join,  “You might catch something horrible from them!” shouted my mother as I left home.

But here I was at the forefront of it all.  Everything on Earth went to a standstill as people tried to get to the major cities of the world to catch a glimpse of the new arrivals.  There was pandemonium in the streets as thousands upon thousands were squashing into the relegated meeting zones.  Giant televisions were set up so people could get a better look.  Camera crews were everywhere broadcasting it live to the people who stayed at home, some through choice because they were fearful and others were too poor. 

Hyde Park was the landing spot chosen in England and there would be ships landing simultaneously in all the other capitals of Earth.  Washington was the capital I was at on that day.  I remember it so clearly as it was the best day of my life.

The President of America was there waiting with his party and with them thousands of people watched as clouds gathered above then dispersed as a bright blue light from the circular silver ships descended.  The excitement and fear hung in the air as the giant saucer slowly landed and everyone waited for the huge silver doors of the ship to open.  I couldn’t wait for the doors to open and come face to face with a new species.  Sweat poured down my head as the seconds seemed like hours.

Eventually the huge silver doors slowly opened and I saw the humans in the flesh for the first time.  Their look of horror and surprise will be with me till the day I die as they looked onto our tall gangly bodies which will seem so different to the humans as we have bone on the outside to protect our organs and so makes our superior race harder to be killed.  You could also see the humans surprise when we started shooting our laser cannons at them disintegrating their soft watery pink bodies.

This was the moment I had longed for. For over ten years we had wanted to destroy the human race as is the nature of our people.  The smell of the human flesh as it melted under our lasers was divine and the screams of the dying only fuelled our excitement.  We chased after the humans shooting at them evaporating them without mercy.  Even when the human army retaliated with their puny guns and tanks they were no match for our armour and shields.  We destroyed the human’s tanks and planes as if they were mere toys.

High above the sky a second wave of our ships descended and destroyed the Earth’s buildings and airbases.  Eventually there was hardly anything left as we swarmed down to the planet and killed anything in sight.  The humans didn’t stand a chance – they mostly screamed and died.  There were too many of us.

This was a very special day indeed for me as well as my people.  It was my first time off world and what I had trained years for.  It was the first world we had been in contact with for over a hundred years and we needed their resources and minerals badly as our planets fossil fuels had almost ran out.

With our superior weaponry, shielding and strength we killed all but a few hundred thousand humans within a matter of days.  The attack was non-stop as we bombarded the city’s.  The humans that we kept would be used as slaves to mine the planet for us and maybe eaten if not too skinny or disease had not set in.  It was the best experience a young warrior like myself could have and within three days the Earth belonged to the Gorgons!!

Further Entry:

This morning as we prepared to leave the Earth after nearly a year of sapping it of its minerals and water and leaving it a lifeless planet,  news has reached us that our home world has had communications with a new planet.  I can’t wait to go there.