The Zerocks' Warning

It all started on that fateful day, a week ago, or was it a month? I don’t know, I’ve lost track of time. I was doing my daily chores when suddenly there was a blackout. I ran out of the house into utter darkness. I could hear voices of my neighbours nearby. Everybody was as confused as I was. Suddenly a dazzling light followed by a deafening roar attracted everyone’s attention skywards. The source of this commotion was a gigantic UFO which was hurtling towards us at an unbelievably fast pace. There were excited and nervous noises from the people around me. Some people even started frantically clicking pictures of the flying saucer.

But my intuition told me that something was not right, this UFO certainly didn’t bode well.

Now the UFO was very close to landing and I realised for the first time how huge it was. The very sight of it sent chills down my spine. It was spherical having millions of windows which emitted light of various colours. Faintly, I could make out grotesque silhouettes of alien creatures. The UFO finally landed in a large, open wheat field. The crop burnt on impact. People rushed forward to get a closer look. I tried to stay calm and watched the proceedings from a distance.

A strange thing happened. The upper part of the spherical UFO drifted upwards and about ten aliens glided towards us. The creatures were taller than us having three large protruding eyes, about a hundred crooked teeth in broad jaws and ashen green skin, an oblong head, pointed ears, about eight feet tall and wearing billowing black robes. I took note of their arms and hands which were longer than an average human’s. Their hands had four fingers, including a thumb, complete with nails. In spite of their hideous appearance, they looked intelligent and ... evil.

I rushed forward. The alien creature who seemed to be their leader took out a strange instrument which was cubical and made of a metal which I was sure wasn’t found on earth. The leader grunted something to his kinsfolk who grunted back. All of us stared on in utter shock and anticipation. The alien leader pressed a button on the instrument and a strange sound filled the atmosphere which sounded vaguely familiar to the bird calls of a thousand birds, all jumbled up. This was odd. Birds are found only on Earth, right?

This sound was queerly pleasant to hear and I began to feel drowsy. My mind started getting clear of thoughts. People around me were experiencing the same kind of feelings. We began to feel a strange sense of relaxation, like we had been freed of all worries and tension. We began to forget who we were. It was then that I panicked. But there was nothing I could do about it. The intensity of the sound increased and it had drastic consequences.

We didn’t know who we were or where we were or where we belonged. We couldn’t do anything except what was put into our heads. We simply behaved like robots used to fulfill selfish motives. We had forgotten all about it until a crash came and the spell broke.

Our drowsiness was washed away and we began to come to our senses. The leader of the alien group addressed us saying, “Hail Earthlings!” We were now able to understand what the creature was saying. Probably, the pleasant music that emanated from the cubical instrument enabled us to do so.

I went forward to face the alien leader, who said, “We, the Zerocks from the planet of Xena have come here to Earth not to destroy it. In fact, we have great regard for Earth. It nurtured our ancestors trillions of years ago. Our ancestors later migrated to the planet of Xena which is just a few light years away from Earth. The history of our race goes back to time immemorial. For a long time, we had been living on Xena, which was bountiful.  It provided us with everything we needed. But then, we started exploiting the resources recklessly. Xena wasn’t going to bear this ill treatment for long. When her fury was aroused, she sent terrible dust storms, volcanic eruptions, cyclones of swirling masses of poisonous gases and quakes. In such a situation, life wasn’t possible on Xena. So our ancestors began to look for alternative places to live. They found Earth to be the most suitable planet for life, after Xena. Thus, for about a century our ancestors resided on Earth. By then the fury of Xena had subsided and our ancestors returned to Xena.

“Since then, we have kept Earth under tight scrutiny. We observed the evolution of  humans and other organisms. Disturbingly, you humans are repeating the mistake we committed. You are destroying your Earth, Mother Nature and her resources. Already crises such as global warming and ozone layer depletion are causes for great concern. Their consequences can be really disastrous.

“I, on behalf of the entire race of Zerocks, want to warn you, Earthlings. Be careful! Should there be a day that the conditions on Earth are no longer suitable for inhabitation, all species of Earth are welcome to Xena, which is thirty times as big as the Earth. Atmospheric conditions in Xena are similar to Earth’s. I am just expressing my gratitude to Earth for what she has done for us by protecting our ancestors in their hour of crisis.

“If you are in need of our help, just press the red button on the box,” he said, handing the cubical instrument to me. “My name is Zurin Zorh.”

I was speechless. This was so amazing, so shocking and also so amusing. All my fears had been in vain. These hideous creatures had actually come here to help us by providing an alternative place to live, not to capture us and take us away to some spooky planet. I was so relieved that I began to laugh. I couldn’t stop myself. Suddenly, all the people around me started laughing too.

Finally when all the laughter had subsided, I thanked Zurin who was watching us in surprise.“Thank you so much, Mr. Zurin Zorh,” I said. “We would be glad to avail your help. Our scientists are trying to figure out ways to combat global warming but they are not making much headway. Give my regards to all Zerocks.”

Zurin nodded and said, “We leave in peace then. Farewell.”

“Farewell,” I said, “on behalf of all organisms on Earth, and thank you.”

The Zerocks were already gliding back to their spacecraft. The sphere suspended in thin air got attached again to the main craft. With a deafening roar, the UFO rose in the air and soared away to Xena.

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