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The Starfeather sped through the newly discovered galaxy, making its way home with a small treasure trove found on the third planet from a sun that was soon to become a red dwarf. It had transmitted a copy of the item which apparently bore language upon it. It had been hermetically sealed, and handled in in a sterile environment as images were taken.
Dr. Uyghan-Ik-Tsum had detected something on it which was both alive and not-alive. It was active whenever a crew member came close, and dormant when it was alone. Captain F'lara-K'pau-A'zia was paranoid regarding germs – especially xenobiological ones. She would be just as happy if the High Council requested that she jettison the whole lot of artifacts into space...near a black hole, preferably.
"Captain, High Counsellor Baan'valo-Krus has sent a message to us," said the Starfeather's communications officer, Mump'Ix'El.
"On screen," responded F'lara.
The long, regal face of Baan'valo filled the screen, her crest shining silver, her facial feathers oiled to perfection. She looked formidable, and one not to be taken lightly. F'lara respected her.
"Linguists on 2,400 planets have pored over your find. Needless to say, they succeeded in translating it. I am providing you with an audio recording. First, you must stop the Starfeather now. Stay where you are. You are to listen to the recording, you and your crew, and immediately contact me when you are done."
"Should I play the audio file, Captain?" asked Mump.
A cold shiver ran up her feathers the wrong way. F'lara had a bad feeling about this.
"Yes," she reluctantly replied, and sat down in her Captain's chair.
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The most terrifying monsters are the ones you can't see. They could be anywhere, look like anyone or anything, and you'd never even notice them. One minute you're enjoying life, and the next you're dying, or you see the world rolling by you as you lose consciousness while your head is skidding across the floor. Just your head. I'm getting ahead of my story.
I'm sorry, I didn't mean for that to be humorous. My name is Henry Mortimer Einstein Crick. My ten-greats grandfather was Francis Crick, who helped discover deoxyribonucleic acid - or as you call it – DNA. Starting in the 2100s, all of the elder male Cricks went into molecular sciences.
I'm going to assume that, if you understand this, you're from another galaxy. Life on our planet was astounding, and we give the most credit for life being here at all to one particular thing: the presence of water.
In our technological youth, we didn't take much notice of how badly we were mistreating it. These mistakes created Global Warming, which by the late 21st Century, melted all glacial ice on Earth. It shrunk just about every continental landmass and obliterated many of the world's habitable islands.
Global warming radically reduced the amount of farmable land. By the 24th Century the world's population was fully one-quarter of what it had been 2 centuries before. Animal husbandry and agriculture were nationalized. Meat and fresh-picked produce were affordable only by the rich. Anyone else, if they were unable to grow things, was stuck with packaged or dried rations doled out by their government. Countries run by dictators fared worse. Our world wasn't a friendly place if your family was poor. And the poor were becoming fewer every hour.
