Man in the Moon

Sirius

He had not travel fifty trillion miles for gold. Though some species had. Nor to anally probean Earthling. Though the self-amusement did cross his mind. The universe was abundant withminerals. No. He was after something more valuable than mere minerals. He was after thebuilding blocks of life. DNA.

And Earth had DNA for the taking.

Despite his defiling objection to humans, somewhere in the eon of time, they shared acommon primordial ancestor. Albeit cellular. Crude proteins and amino acids that had bubbledup from a primal sludge and been ejaculated into outer space. Seeding the universe. Infectingplanets with a terminal disease. Life. Some sooner than others. Each species evolving andadapting to their unique planetary environments. And millions upon millions of years, ofevolution. Something the universe had in abundance. All it took was a curious brain and anopposing thumb. Each would climb down from the trees. And each would climb into space.

Man was no different.

Over the millennia various Alien life forms, Humanoids, Reptilians, Insectoids, came andwent. Many times, inter-dimensionally. Evaluating the Earth species. Stricken at what theyfound. In time, Humans would have taken their place among the intellectual elect of the GalacticFederation. Had they not squandered their birth-right with petty political squabbles and amassingfearful weapons of mass destruction. They had sight of the primary truth. Preservation of thespecies.

They had to be halted before it was too late. And the planet became totally uninhabitable.

"Re_lease_ this_ one_ back_," Sirius informs the attendant.

Pressure pads are placed over the woman's head and buttons tapped in sequence. Hummingsounds resonates within the room as the woman's eyes roll in their sockets. She falls limp.Unconscious. Her memory wiped of the past few hours. Latches release. A tracking beamsuspends her in the above the table and hovers towards a waiting gurney where a cloth is thrownover her inert body.

An attendant pushes the floating gurney along the corridor to a conveyor belt of bodiesheading one way. Back to the loading bay. There to be put upon crafts and returned to earth fromwhence they came. To be discovered naked. To be monitored from afar and the hybrid inside herwould be harvested at a future abduction.

Sirius returns to the waiting shuttle and continues deeper into the bowels of the base. Crossingover a great cavity, he raises his hand for the shuttle to halt. And observes the colossal structure being built. Looking like giant boreholes. Honeycombs a buzz with activity. Shuffles dartedbetween pods delivering supplies.

Thousands of pods shone brightly with light. Living quarters for the new arrivals.Temporary shelter while they await the final phase of earth's transformation. Thermaltemperatures were rising steadily, CO2 levels in the atmosphere were approaching acceptabletolerances. With the help of man.

Working nonstop the hive would be completed within the next orbit of the yellow draft sun.Sirius purses thin lips and is pleased with what he sees. 

Raising a hand to proceed and the great vertical catacombs of shining lights slip from view asSirius continued on his route. Large doors slide open, and deeper into the bowels of the base theshuttle descends. Now miles beneath the surface. Coming to a door several feet thick, made of analloy beyond man's imagination. 

The bulky door slides effortlessly to one side and the shuttle glides inside the vast cavity.A blazing white light engulfs the chamber. A transparent membrane closes across Sirius'eyes. A beam of protons streams between two terminals. Providing eternal energy, and thensome. At its heart, a temporal black hole, suspended by a gravitational force field. 

The slightest imbalance and the deck of cards would tumble down. Taking the base andeveryone with it. Worker Greys stand before panels of lights. Finger-like claws delicately tapcontrols and make subtle modifications. 

Greys bow their heads subserviently acknowledging Sirius' presence among them. Wordsare never spoken. Only thoughts passed. One way. Commands. Sirius could overpower a Greys'mind in the blink of an eye. Disobedience would mean immediate death. 

Sirius signals the shuttle to return to the command center to report to the Elders.

Sirius waves a boney claw across a panel, activating a screen the came to life before him. Threemenacing faces stare at the fearsome face staring back at them. It would be another millenniumor two before Sirius would be considered their equal. He was still young, and relativelyinexperienced in the ways of galactic politics. There was a Federation to answer to. 

Uncivilized planets were permitted to be occupied and transformed. And fledgling planetslike the earth were ripe for the picking. Man may have split the atom. But he had failed toharness its knowledge on which greater knowledge was harnessed. Choosing instead, the path ofself-destruction. Who was Sirius to stand in their way? 

"El_ders_" Bows Sirius subserviently. 

"Sir_i_us_. What_ have_ you_ to_ re_port_?" An Elder asks cautiously. 

"Ev_ery_ting_ is_ on_ track_. Set_tle_ments_ are_ near_ing com_plet_ion_. Pow_er_ at_one_ cent_ton_.""Ve_ry_ good_ Sir_i_us_." An Elder nods his bulky head, rasping breath through thinnostrils. He could almost taste the humans on his lips. 

"And_ the_ sa_tel_lite_?" The third Elder asked anxiously, without it, the fleet would be lostfinding the blue marbled isle. 

"On_ track_ I_ as_sure_ you_ El_ders... Earth_ con_tact_ has_ as_sur_ed_ ev_ery_thing_is_ in_ ord_er... They_ a_wait_ your_ com_mand_." 

"Good_. Good_." An Elder praises Sirius."I_ serve_ you_ my_ El_ders_." Sirius bows his head as though to conclude their meeting.

The transmission dies and the screen vaporizes into thin air leaving him with his head stillbowed. 

Large holographic monitors display the bases activity. Harmonic cycles waver across thescreens. A clawed finger traces one of the waves and lowers it. Causing the light that filled theroom to dim. 

Swiping a screen, an image of the earth appears, and he marvels at the suspended blue jewel.Occupied by the soon to be extinct species. Humans. Evolving no more than when he had foundthem. Worshipping pagan Gods. One of them himself. Unleashing plagues and viruses over thecenturies to cleanse the gene pool to purify the remaining stock. 

The last pandemic having been remarkably effective purging the undesirables. The aged.The sick. And the lame...